I made an interesting discovery a few weeks ago. In one of the ugliest corners of campus, hidden back behind the freshmen boys’ dormitory, is a remarkably beautiful cherry tree.
幾週前我觀察到一個有趣的事情，在校園最醜陋的角落之一，隱藏在新生男生宿舍後面的地方，有一棵非常美麗的櫻花樹。

During the majority of the year, it is almost invisible. Its liveliness is covered over by the general hideousness of the drab building, the crumbling fencing, and the mess of pipes and air conditioner units.
在一年當中，大部分時間它幾乎不會被看見，不引起注意，它的存在被熙來攘往的人群、單調的建築、搖搖欲墜的柵欄、雜亂的管線和冷氣壓縮機給遮蓋。

But in the Spring, the tree comes alive. Its blooms and buds are like a firework, exploding into color and its fresh flowers attract little yellow birds, awoken at last after the winter.
但到了春天，櫻花樹就生氣勃勃了，滿樹櫻花一同盛開就像煙火，綻放出絢麗的色彩，它吸引著冬天過後終於甦醒的小黃鳥。

Were it not for that vibrant display, I would never have realized it was there. But there it is, all the same, where I least expected to find a little hint of beauty.
如果不是這滿樹花開、春意盎然的畫面，我永遠不會注意到那裡有棵櫻花樹的存在。最令我意想不到的是，會在最不起眼的角落裡發現一絲美麗的痕跡。

Spring is like that in general. It is the season of life renewed after the long quiet of winter. It is beauty born out of the image of death victorious.
春天一般都是如此，經歷漫長的冬季，又到了萬物復甦的季節，這也是從死亡當中得勝的美好啟示。

It is no mistake that the center of the Church calendar, Easter, comes here, in the Spring season. Life conquering death is not just a theme etched into the bones of the world, it prefigures and repeats the fundamental story of life, death,
and the resurrection.
毫無疑問，對於教會來說，整年度最重要的焦點也是在春天-復活節。生命戰勝死亡不僅僅是一個銘刻在世界骨子裡的主題，它預示並重現了生命、死亡和復活的故事。

Which means that cherry tree, and the expectation we all hold for Spring, is not merely about pretty flowers and warmer weather. It is a reminder that God’s love for us was here, speaking to us, at the foundation of the world and through each of the cycles of the seasons. That in the beginning he loved us then, but that he loved us best in his resurrected Son.
這也意味著櫻花樹和我們，對春天的期望不僅僅是美麗的花朵和溫暖的天氣，同時也包含提醒我們，上帝對我們的愛就在這裡，在世界的根基和每個季節的循環中對我們說話。創世之初祂愛我們，爾後在祂死而復生的兒子身上，展現了對我們無窮盡的愛。