I stepped outside before driving to work, looking up into the fat, heavy, moist snowflakes falling from the sky. I thought how glorious and creative God is to find such a beautiful way to give us winter precipitation. And how good He is to make us so that we can thrill at its beauty.
Of course, simultaneously comes agonizing from those involved in our parish's Beyond Cana marriage retreat which begins tomorrow in a location that is a 30 minute drive away. Babysitters, icy roads, and attendees are in peril!
Any prayers are, of course, appreciated ... though I feel extremely calm about it all. Of course, we only have to take our dogs to the vet for boarding. I am, naturally, praying for everyone, although right now I seem to be channeling St. John Vianney as what comes to mind is:
God commands you to pray, but he forbids you to worry.Good advice no matter what the weather!
In related news, especially for those on the East Coast
This Winter Funk Warning announcement from Dr. Boli's Celebrated Magazine.THE NATIONAL WEATHER Service has issued a Winter Funk Warning for the counties of Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Lawrence, Washington, Westmoreland, and Yohogania. A Winter Funk Warning means that prolonged inactivity enforced by unusually high amounts of snowfall will cause blue funks, lugubriousness, depression, grumpiness, annoyance, irritability, petulance, sadness, even more lugubriousness, and mental dry rot. Residents are urged to keep themselves entertained with a good book and not do anything stupid.
You're the first person I've seen to actually be pleased by all the snow :-)
ReplyDeleteOf course, that's easy for me to say all the way over here on the opposite side of the Atlantic, where there hasn't been so much as a flake fallen where I live.
What you say reminds me of what Tolkien had to say in "The Silmarillion":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainulindal%C3%AB
"Ulmo is the second Ainu to whom Ilúvatar specifically speaks in the histories when he points out to Ulmo that Water has from Melkor’s meddling benefited beyond Ulmo’s earlier conceptions. Melkor’s attempts to disrupt with the use of fierce heat and severe cold do nothing to ruin Water (as Melkor must have hoped), but rather leave the World with the beauties of snow and frost and clouds and rain; this does no less than push Manwë and Ulmo more closely together. Ulmo, first of all the Ainur (Melkor included), has his words quoted in the histories when he says “’Truly, Water is become now fairer than my heart imagined, neither had my secret thought conceived the snowflake, nor in all my music was contained the falling of the rain. I will seek Manwë, that he and I may make melodies for ever to thy delight!’”
“’Truly, Water is become now fairer than my heart imagined, neither had my secret thought conceived the snowflake, nor in all my music was contained the falling of the rain....
ReplyDeleteI really love that, especially as I was just this morning trying to think of something lovely about the rain to correspond with the snow. And you (and Tolkein) provided the answer! Perfect as I do love the sound of rainfall ... and thunder ... and lightning. Thank you!
God really does create beautiful things! I can't believe the snow is still falling. Thankfully I am able to work from home today, so I can enjoy the snow falling outside my window. :)
ReplyDeleteYou know I was loving it! :D I helped some co-workers make a snowman outside the library. I'll have to see if I can find a photo of it! The last time I'd made a snowman was 1988, when we were living in New York and got a snowstorm. I just love that snow brings childhood back! :D
ReplyDeleteIt was also fun to see the amazement on the faces of the foreign students from India, the Middle East, etc. They kept bringing us their cameras and camera-phones to take pictures of them in the snow.
On the other hand, my 15-minute drive home took a full hour. :o I think that every school and business closed at the same time. Not fun.
I do hope everybody makes it to the retreat safely!
Heather, what a lovely image! I tend to get a little cranky about the snow, but then we are blessed with an abundance of it here in Milwaukee. I forget how beautiful it can be as it falls softly in the night and leaves everything white and beautiful and quiet. And yes, to someone who has never seen it before, how glorious it must appear.
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