The Governor declared a state of emergency for snow today. Still only damp outside from yesterday’s rain, it hasn’t started yet though clouds are looming on the horizon. The Finn in me looks forward to snow, but then, I wonder, what about the homeless, persons and cats. My neighbor does have an old garage, falling apart with open window. Perhaps at least the casts can take shelter there.
It’s pretty obvious we don’t live in Michigan, or even Massachusetts the way we in New Jersey get worked up over snow. The plowing is usually pretty abysmal. Up north, the plows work 24 hours a day, in shifts, of course.
Tomorrow being Martin Luther King Day – how ironic – schools are closed, and all federal and state offices as well, so there won’t be much traffic as we dig out. And as we look out at the snow to come, our gardens will welcome the cover as deep underground the roots connect and think about the spring to come.
Prayer for the Day
Ever new and surprising God, we are thankful for the beauty of winter
For its starkness opens us to the details of your creation;
Still caught in the past year, we consider uncertain futures
And pray in our hearts that hope will bloom as the spring.to come.
Help us to be open to your Spirit and look to the future with courage.
In the name of the One who brings us hope,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
Rogers Hornsby, nicknamed “the Rajah,” baseball great (1896-1963)
When all the world appears to be in a tumult, and nature itself is feeling the assault of climate change, the seasons retain their essential rhythm. Yes, fall gives us a premonition of winter, but then winter will be forced to relent, once again, to the new beginnings of soft greens, longer light, and the sweet air of spring.
Madeleine Kunin, Swiss born American diplomat, Vermont governor
The Lord sends out commands to the earth, with words running swiftly.
Snow the Lord sends like wool, scattering frost like ashes.
Hail is hurled down like crumbs – who can stand before the cold?
God sends out the words and they are melted, winds blowing and waters flowing.
Psalm 147: 15-18.