“Beware the Ides of March!”
From google- “In modern times, the Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the Senate. As many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved. According to Plutarch, a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar on the Ides of March. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, where he would be assassinated, Caesar passed the seer and joked, “Well, the Ides of March are come”, implying that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied, “Aye, they are come, but they are not gone.” This meeting is famously dramatized in William Shakespeare‘s play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to “beware the Ides of March.”
“Caesar’s assassination opened the final chapter in the crisis of the Roman Republic. After his victory in Caesar’s civil war, his death triggered a series of further Roman civil wars that would finally result in the rise to sole power of his adopted heir Octavian. In 27 BC, Octavian became emperor, and thus he finally terminated the Roman Republic. Suetonius and the historian Cassius Dio characterized the slaughter as a religious sacrifice, noting that it occurred on the Ides of March.”
“Does the name Octavian mean anything to you? Among many other names he went by, perhaps you know him best by his official name- Augustus. Or, when mentioned in the New Testament, Caesar Augustus. Emperor Caesar Augustus (formerly Octavian) reigned during the birth of Jesus, with his decree for a Roman world census acting as the catalyst for Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem. This event fulfilled the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Augustus reigned from 27 BC to AD 14.”
You may ask what this has to do with Dorton Methodist Church and Homestead Methodist Church. Ahh, March, the beginning of Spring! Or is it? Friday, March 20th officially kicks off this year’s spring season. Sunshine, warm weather, and all the things that go with it.
But old man winter may not be ready to give up its icy grip on us that easily. In my lifetime, do you know when the biggest snowfall took place here in our neck of the woods? Again, from Google- “The 1993 Storm of the Century (also known as the 93 Superstorm, The No Name Storm, or the Great Blizzard of ’93) was a devastating cyclonic storm, or nor’easter, that formed over the Gulf of Mexico on March 12, 1993. The cold weather, heavy snowfall, high winds and storm surge that the storm brought affected a very large area; at its height, it stretched from Canada to Honduras. The cyclone moved through the Gulf of Mexico and then through the eastern United States before moving on to eastern Canada. It eventually dissipated in the North Atlantic Ocean on March 15. Did you catch that range? Canada to Honduras!!!
Heavy snow was first reported in highland areas as far south as Alabama and northern Georgia, with Union County, Georgia reporting up to 35 inches of snow. Birmingham, Alabama, reported a rare 13 inches of snow.”
Crossville Memorial Airport reported 20.5 inches of snow. Many areas in Cumberland and surrounding counties reported more than two feet! Mrs. Preacher and I were pastoring in Kentucky at the time. We didn’t get quite as much snow there in south central Kentucky as you folks here in Cumberland County got. But my parents made pictures of our house down in Eastland/Clifty. The snow drifts were up to the front porch roof line.
So, I say all that to say this. Beware “the ides of March”! March can be a rough time of year here in Tennessee. Between winter weather, spring storms, tornadoes, and such, we best be prepared for this unpredictable month of year. But, through it all, God’s holds in His great big hands, and he will never leave us nor forsake us. Be careful out there this month!