They had been calling for a wintry mix, and all bets were that school would be cancelled for the day. Sure enough, when I woke up this morning and checked the news, Roanoke County Schools were closed.
At the time of my awakening I could hear sleet pinging off of the siding and onto the sidewalk, then when I went downstairs to check on the conditions, it began to rain. Not freezing rain, just rain. With these non-impending conditions in place, I got up and started my day. Within an hour the rain had stopped, and but for moisture lingering in the cold air, all is well – A Non-Snow Day.
It reminds me of when I was in school in Durham, NC, and there was a chance that we were going to receive an inch and a half of snow the next day. By 6PM the kids had already been
informed that there would be no school but to stock up at the grocery store. We woke up to no snow, not even rain. Instead, we enjoyed a beautiful 55 degree, sunny day.
Now I don’t mean to get the school superintendents upset, as I know there are multiple factors that go into making the hard decision of calling a snow day, nor would I desire to be the one making the decision. Add to that the fact that this particular county has mountains and hollers which cause for different weather activities in different communities, and it makes it tricky, but it is an interesting thing for the kids to be out for a snow day with no snow.
I guess if we were to look at the two extremes of the situation, we could remember the phrases “better safe than sorry” and “leave caution to the wind.” One leans toward the strong possibility of danger and interruption, while the other simply takes no precautions but hopes nothing bad will happen. And yet, so often in life, in fact I would say MOST often in life, we land somewhere in the middle.
I invite you sometime to pick up your Bible and turn to the twelfth chapter of Luke’s Gospel. It’s a rather odd chapter. It begins with warnings against hypocrisy and an encouragement to the disciples to keep the faith, then Jesus tells a story of a Rich Man who just keeps building so he’ll have room for all his “stuff,” then He turns it back on them (us) saying, “do not worry about anything.” Then it shifts to a whole conversation about being watchful and prepared, but THEN Jesus throws out that He’s going to cause strife and division between family members. THEN He says, “watch the clouds, read the weather, because you’ll know what’s coming if you do.”
There are some passages where one reads them and wonders, “Was Jesus having a bad day? Was his mind simply racing from one thing to the next? What’s his point?” This is one of those.
He seems to be pinging all over the place, and yet underneath it all, there is one simply message. Inserted into the pockets of emotions and feeling is subject matter centering around how to navigate life, mainly that the invitation is given for us to focus on and trust in God. That if we do, all will be well.
That is, if we focus on God and strive to follow, then hypocrisy flies out the window and we live in faith. If we keep our eye on the prize, then we don’t need all the stuff, and we won’t worry...or at least worry as much. That when we seek Christ’s Kingdom, then we align ourselves with the right priorities, despite what family and friends think, and it even means that we are able to predict the “weather” around us and navigate the peaks and valleys more effectively.
On this “Non-Snow Day” I can’t help but think about how often we get things wrong. How we make the wrong predictions, or read the signs around us incorrectly, then how easy it is to get lost. We can get lost in despair, lost in ourselves, lost from the realities of life, lost in fear, lost from security...the list goes on, but the lostness is real.
However, the message that we have heard over and over again, and even experienced, is that the lost get found. That the Non-Snow Day, and even the snow days...and perfect days...come and go, but God is always with us. The key is to turn to Him, to trust, to follow, to journey with the One who already took the path for us. When we do, God makes a way.
This is a comforting message at any time, but it is even more assuring during the season of Lent, when we are invited to look toward the aspects of our lives where we don’t trust, where we don’t see, where we don’t follow, then ask God to lead and change us.
In a way, this season is a "schooling season". Despite our desire for a snow, or even a “non-snow” day, God's hope is that we'll allow ourselves to be schooled by Christ. And yes, it takes work. It requires effort, but the result and blessing is that when we trust and allow ourselves to be schooled by God, the weather of our lives really doesn’t matter. Instead, we realize WHAT matters, and we are blessed by and through such faithful living.
What are the snow day/non-snow day aspects of your faith walk? How are you being invited to trust more? What Lenten disciplines have you included in your life which will shape and bless you, so that you might be a blessing to the world?
At the time of my awakening I could hear sleet pinging off of the siding and onto the sidewalk, then when I went downstairs to check on the conditions, it began to rain. Not freezing rain, just rain. With these non-impending conditions in place, I got up and started my day. Within an hour the rain had stopped, and but for moisture lingering in the cold air, all is well – A Non-Snow Day.
It reminds me of when I was in school in Durham, NC, and there was a chance that we were going to receive an inch and a half of snow the next day. By 6PM the kids had already been
informed that there would be no school but to stock up at the grocery store. We woke up to no snow, not even rain. Instead, we enjoyed a beautiful 55 degree, sunny day.Now I don’t mean to get the school superintendents upset, as I know there are multiple factors that go into making the hard decision of calling a snow day, nor would I desire to be the one making the decision. Add to that the fact that this particular county has mountains and hollers which cause for different weather activities in different communities, and it makes it tricky, but it is an interesting thing for the kids to be out for a snow day with no snow.
I guess if we were to look at the two extremes of the situation, we could remember the phrases “better safe than sorry” and “leave caution to the wind.” One leans toward the strong possibility of danger and interruption, while the other simply takes no precautions but hopes nothing bad will happen. And yet, so often in life, in fact I would say MOST often in life, we land somewhere in the middle.
I invite you sometime to pick up your Bible and turn to the twelfth chapter of Luke’s Gospel. It’s a rather odd chapter. It begins with warnings against hypocrisy and an encouragement to the disciples to keep the faith, then Jesus tells a story of a Rich Man who just keeps building so he’ll have room for all his “stuff,” then He turns it back on them (us) saying, “do not worry about anything.” Then it shifts to a whole conversation about being watchful and prepared, but THEN Jesus throws out that He’s going to cause strife and division between family members. THEN He says, “watch the clouds, read the weather, because you’ll know what’s coming if you do.”
There are some passages where one reads them and wonders, “Was Jesus having a bad day? Was his mind simply racing from one thing to the next? What’s his point?” This is one of those.
He seems to be pinging all over the place, and yet underneath it all, there is one simply message. Inserted into the pockets of emotions and feeling is subject matter centering around how to navigate life, mainly that the invitation is given for us to focus on and trust in God. That if we do, all will be well.That is, if we focus on God and strive to follow, then hypocrisy flies out the window and we live in faith. If we keep our eye on the prize, then we don’t need all the stuff, and we won’t worry...or at least worry as much. That when we seek Christ’s Kingdom, then we align ourselves with the right priorities, despite what family and friends think, and it even means that we are able to predict the “weather” around us and navigate the peaks and valleys more effectively.
On this “Non-Snow Day” I can’t help but think about how often we get things wrong. How we make the wrong predictions, or read the signs around us incorrectly, then how easy it is to get lost. We can get lost in despair, lost in ourselves, lost from the realities of life, lost in fear, lost from security...the list goes on, but the lostness is real.
However, the message that we have heard over and over again, and even experienced, is that the lost get found. That the Non-Snow Day, and even the snow days...and perfect days...come and go, but God is always with us. The key is to turn to Him, to trust, to follow, to journey with the One who already took the path for us. When we do, God makes a way.
This is a comforting message at any time, but it is even more assuring during the season of Lent, when we are invited to look toward the aspects of our lives where we don’t trust, where we don’t see, where we don’t follow, then ask God to lead and change us.
In a way, this season is a "schooling season". Despite our desire for a snow, or even a “non-snow” day, God's hope is that we'll allow ourselves to be schooled by Christ. And yes, it takes work. It requires effort, but the result and blessing is that when we trust and allow ourselves to be schooled by God, the weather of our lives really doesn’t matter. Instead, we realize WHAT matters, and we are blessed by and through such faithful living.
What are the snow day/non-snow day aspects of your faith walk? How are you being invited to trust more? What Lenten disciplines have you included in your life which will shape and bless you, so that you might be a blessing to the world?
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