Easter Joy to all of you. You wouldn’t think that joy needs an adjective. Joy seems to stand proudly on its own.

April, snow. Snow, April. There’s two words that don’t go together. We Wisconsinites seem to plan our days around the weather. Or the weather appears to plan our days; conscious or unconscious. You wake up to sunshine and tend to treat others that way all day – “nice shoes” and “I like your smile.” You wake up to gloom and your unexpected mood suddenly becomes predictable, “Hurry up” to the cashier,” and a swear word to that slow driver on Capitol Drive.

Wisconsinites are a peculiarly, optimistic people. “Nice day today,” you say to your friend. She responds, “Yeah, it’s supposed to rain tomorrow.”

So, about all of this, I wrote a letter to God.

“Dear God of All Seasons,

We know You’re out there, somewhere; we just can’t seem to find You. You don’t seem to live in Wisconsin.
Come, fill us with Your light and warmth. You tempted us sometimes with double the normal temperatures one day but not the next. Please, don’t tease us. We know that You are our light and our warmth. In You we reside and rely. Just share some of that great warmth with us Wisconsin folks, please? (For heaven’s sakes, we put our shovels away for the season.) I find that people are nicer and more welcoming when pleasant weather abounds. It sounds sad to say it that way but, I guess it’s true. I admit it even about myself.
Lord, I want my attitude, my disposition, my words and deeds to be reflective of Your unconditional love for us. And not be weather dependent, whatever the weather may be.
Your son showed us how his body and blood can determine and affect our moods and behaviors. That’s the temperature we want for both ourselves and those we encounter each day.
After all, You’ve told us that we’re Your barometer in this world.  We control the temperature when gossip begins, when tempers flair and when anger or frustration become easy solutions.  We are Your barometer in this broken, fragmented, cool and cloudy world of ours.
So God, “weather” it’s rain, snow, sunshine or slush, be our warmth. Be our sun. Be our warming weather. With Your help, in Wisconsin may the weather always be, (no, within our hearts may it always be) 68 degrees, mostly sunny with a 20% chance of rain in the morning and then clear skies throughout the afternoon and evening.
Love, Your Badger state friends

PS. Perhaps joy needs that adjective after all – ‘Easter’s’ joy, all year ‘round.”