April 14

Over at the Washington Post, the Capital Weather Gang has given today a "10." And they are right, it is a spectacularly beautiful day -- the sort of day that we only get in April and early May, and that we don't get too often even then. DC is a pretty grim and miserable place from Thanksgiving until the middle of April, and days like this are always a relief.

This may explain why President Lincoln was ready to go out and see a play on April 14, 1865. It probably explains why, when Walt Whitman thought of the Lincoln assassination, he associated it with blooming lilacs and singing birds. The beauty of nature somehow makes man's inhumanity even worse. I was here on 9/11, and it was just about the prettiest day I ever saw, and the very beauty of the day depressed me as much as the bombs.

But that's life in a fallen world. The rose is surrounded by thorns, and deadly snakes may be found in beautiful forests. We have to remember that while bad things may happen on Good Friday, that is not the end of the Story. And maybe the beauty of a 9/11 -- or a 4/14 -- isn't meant to mock us, but to remind us of better things to come.