White as Snow

 

Before the day begins, before the first crunching tires mar the surface, before some hearty soul takes the first slipping steps, the snow is a milky sea, calm and smooth, untroubled.

Clean and white, even the dawning of a grey day can’t diminish the beauty of the scene. All the world seems fresh and new. All the world seems poised and ready for a do over.

When I was a boy, I loved that moment of stepping out into the bright morning sun as it reflected on the freshly fallen snow. I wanted to be the first to leave my tracks. I wanted to be the first to sled the hill. I wanted to be the first to track rabbits and roam the trails in the woods. Something about the fresh snow called my name.

One of the images of a life do over that I remember from my childhood days in Sunday School is an image of snow. From the beginning of the Book of Isaiah we were taught words that I can still recall. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” We also sang a hymn with those words. It still plays in my head every time I see the snow.

Driving is dangerous. Rolling blackouts aren’t playing out as advertised. Plans are canceled and everything is harder than it should be in the day to day of life. All this and more is true. But don’t miss the chance to see in the snow the opportunity which is offered to us all; the opportunity for a fresh start.

Peace.