I Hate Snow, I Love Snow

When I was a boy, I can recall that my Grandpa Wall would listen at lunchtime every day to the news and weather on the local radio station, WBBB.    While we are in a 24/7 news cycle today, such was not the case in those days.   Grandpa would ask us to be extremely quiet especially when we would listen to the weather forecast shared by someone with the National Weather Service at the Greensboro airport.     This time of year,  our ears perk up with a little more interest in the weather forecast when they mention that four letter word that brings glee to some and disgust to others:  snow.   

I hate snow.   Nancy Hatch Woodward says this about snow:  “Snow brings a special quality with it- the power to stop life as you know it dead in its tracks”.   Such is especially the case in the Carolinas where I live.   As a pastor for over 40 years, the mention of the word snow in the Carolinas always prompts the question of whether to cancel a church meeting, a church event, or Sunday activities.    If it  was my decision alone, I would like to never cancel Sunday worship but I try to err on the side of caution concerned that ice or snow might bring injury or accident to some faithful follower of Christ who desired to exercise their freedom to worship.    I hate the uncertainty about whether the schedule of the church or businesses I frequent will go as usual.  

I hate snow.   I also love snow.    John Burnside says this about snow:    “Snow isn’t just pretty.   It also cleanses our world and our senses, not just of the soot and grime of a mining town, but also of a kind of weary familiarity, a taken-for-granted quality to which our eyes are all too susceptible.”   I love how snow can turn a stark winter landscape into a winter wonderland and how snow can transform the world around us.    Snow makes us see the world around us in all its beauty and splendor.

Back in the 1990’s, I took a trip to Israel and the Holy Land about this time of year.      I know not how often snow comes to that part of the world, but it must every now and then.     The prophet Isaiah has snow on his mind when he writes,  “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;   though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”   (Isaiah 1:18).      God transforms the world around us with snow and that same God transforms our lives through his forgiveness and grace that we find in Jesus Christ.       You see, there is another four letter word  that changes everything-  love, the love of God.   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:  Lord, you are the God of sun and snow, of wind and rain.   We thank you for providing for all our needs.  We especially give you thanks for the forgiveness and grace that is ours through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.   Amen.