The Serenity of Winter

Winter has come again to my life and blanketed the whole thing in an inch or four of snow. It's cold and deathly quiet. Not many people out. I've just come in out of the cold after about one and half hours of shoveling the white glory with my son Alex. He's thinking about food, I'm looking for coffee. As I sit here in my office, clammy and waiting for the first cup of coffee, I'm thankful for the serenity of the snow. I value the Quiet it brings and how weather forces us to respect the seasons. Our power is limited. We may not like to slow down, we may not like how winter clothing makes us look but slow down we must. I've put on a little Gregorian music and find myself drifting into God's life. Here too my power is limited and I'm forced to alter the rhythm of my life to a different tune I'm beginning to hear. It is a tune I can only hear in winter, in places of silence. Winter sometimes forces us to listen, perhaps that's why we hate it so much. I suspect  the Kingdom of God will be alot like winter. Pristine, White and Pure, Calm, Peaceful, and above all in Rhythm we know by heart but have forgotten. It will be a reunion of sorts. A reunion with people we've never met, places we've never been, songs we've never sung all with a joy, peace and serenity we've never experiences before.  So if you're feeling a bit down by the winter blues, perhaps it's because the hectic life and noise we've grown accustomed to is silences under a blanket of white and we're unsure of what we're hearing perhaps for the first time. Take time to listen. Take time to fast. Take time to read and grow. My suggestions: (1) turn the TV off for one whole day. Feel the anxiety and overcome it.  (2) Listen to the still small voice. Who am I? Who is God? What does He want from me? (3) Read a passage of the Bible. Countless generations have read this text, nations have fought over it's meaning, lives have been changed and yet it is here to guide you in the quest for wholeness.  Listen to it! God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen. --Reinhold Niebuhr