Over dramatic? I don’t think so. This “Snowstorm 2011” has been a piece to the puzzle in my spiritual journey.
I went for a walk today. Still a foot of snow on the ground. I walk in the packed snow covered streets through my neighborhood. Sun is finally out. Gone are the gloom inspiring clouds of gray. It’s bright. Almost warm when the sun hits the bare skin, but the slight breeze whisks the subfreezing air across my skin and reminds me, it is cold out. I could have been fooled. The birds were fooled. Chirping all around me. I don’t even notice the freezing of my breath, though it must have been there.
I don’t know if snow has a scent, but the air smelled clean, clear, and mountain like. Pinion pine is burning in a neighbors fireplace. "God, one day, can I live in the mountains? Please let it be so... this is almost heaven."
Travel was slow. Traction at a minimum, you must move slow to avoid an embarrassing fall. They can bruise both the ego... and the coccyx, you know. I make it safely to Utica Square. I take care of my business at the post office and as I head to the Starbucks to get a hot tea (I’m completely spoiled by Double Shot and cannot drink the boring generic burnt taste of Starbucks) I notice a multitude of police cars. Traffic redirected. Twenty first street now occupied by heavy tractors. Ten tons of steel driven by men who smell like grease and sweat... ripping up a small section of the street. Performing a surgery of sorts. A water main had burst, as explained by hand written sign in the Starbuck’s window. Closed.
Running water is a luxury that we take for granted. Though, it’s been there since the day I was born... Even before, I suspect. Yet without it, businesses close down. Hospital workers can’t wash their hands, diseases spread. Toilets won’t flush and showers can’t be taken. God isn’t a luxury. He’s a necessity. Yet, every day billions of people take God and his mercy for granted. They go about their lives oblivious to or ignoring the very force that allows them to take each and every breath. Without God, not only would evil run rampant but the very laws of quantum physics would fail and even the atoms would cease to be. He breathed this universe into being. He allows you to wake, walk, eat, work, play, and love. He is so good and loving that even though billions of people ignore him on a daily basis, use his name in vain, or blame him for every wrong or pain in their life... He... Still... Loves! He IS merciful! He allows you to go on... waking, walking, eating, working, playing and loving. ALL good things come from him.
I need to be aware. I need to thank God for my life and every good thing in it. I need to praise him even during my suffering, because without his mercy, my suffering would be even worse! Also, he is so good, he works even through the bad things in life to bring about good. I can testify to that. I see it in my current trial. God is good. Period.
God was even merciful to P.F. Chang’s. They still had water. I went in and drank an iced tea. Hot tea? Out of the question! My core had worked up heat on the walk over. I refueled with my iced tea (four of them) and some spring rolls... Now prepared for the return journey, I head home. "God, what a beautiful day! Thank you."
I went for a walk today. Still a foot of snow on the ground. I walk in the packed snow covered streets through my neighborhood. Sun is finally out. Gone are the gloom inspiring clouds of gray. It’s bright. Almost warm when the sun hits the bare skin, but the slight breeze whisks the subfreezing air across my skin and reminds me, it is cold out. I could have been fooled. The birds were fooled. Chirping all around me. I don’t even notice the freezing of my breath, though it must have been there.
I don’t know if snow has a scent, but the air smelled clean, clear, and mountain like. Pinion pine is burning in a neighbors fireplace. "God, one day, can I live in the mountains? Please let it be so... this is almost heaven."
Travel was slow. Traction at a minimum, you must move slow to avoid an embarrassing fall. They can bruise both the ego... and the coccyx, you know. I make it safely to Utica Square. I take care of my business at the post office and as I head to the Starbucks to get a hot tea (I’m completely spoiled by Double Shot and cannot drink the boring generic burnt taste of Starbucks) I notice a multitude of police cars. Traffic redirected. Twenty first street now occupied by heavy tractors. Ten tons of steel driven by men who smell like grease and sweat... ripping up a small section of the street. Performing a surgery of sorts. A water main had burst, as explained by hand written sign in the Starbuck’s window. Closed.
Running water is a luxury that we take for granted. Though, it’s been there since the day I was born... Even before, I suspect. Yet without it, businesses close down. Hospital workers can’t wash their hands, diseases spread. Toilets won’t flush and showers can’t be taken. God isn’t a luxury. He’s a necessity. Yet, every day billions of people take God and his mercy for granted. They go about their lives oblivious to or ignoring the very force that allows them to take each and every breath. Without God, not only would evil run rampant but the very laws of quantum physics would fail and even the atoms would cease to be. He breathed this universe into being. He allows you to wake, walk, eat, work, play, and love. He is so good and loving that even though billions of people ignore him on a daily basis, use his name in vain, or blame him for every wrong or pain in their life... He... Still... Loves! He IS merciful! He allows you to go on... waking, walking, eating, working, playing and loving. ALL good things come from him.
I need to be aware. I need to thank God for my life and every good thing in it. I need to praise him even during my suffering, because without his mercy, my suffering would be even worse! Also, he is so good, he works even through the bad things in life to bring about good. I can testify to that. I see it in my current trial. God is good. Period.
God was even merciful to P.F. Chang’s. They still had water. I went in and drank an iced tea. Hot tea? Out of the question! My core had worked up heat on the walk over. I refueled with my iced tea (four of them) and some spring rolls... Now prepared for the return journey, I head home. "God, what a beautiful day! Thank you."
Amen Brother :)
ReplyDelete