Clearing the way

Today’s offering is for those who like winter. If that is not your delight, then maybe skip to a cup of tea.

If you happen to live in the Atlantic region I don’t have to tell you that this has been a week of snow! Winter has finally arrived! By the time you read this, you may be shovelling again! 

I like winter. I like snow. I love snow blowing. On Monday, it was my delight to crank up the noisy snow blower and head into the snow banks. Of course I have the luxury of not being in a time crunch with an early morning commute.

I love the snow blowing in my face. It takes me back to childhood memories of windy PEI, making snow angels, laughing, eating the snow stuck to wool mitts, staying out until we cried with frozen fingers and toes, Mom ‘sweeping us down’ with the straw broom, declaring, “Don’t take that snow inside!” 

I like the way the blower digs through the snow. I like the straight edges.  I love the way you can see where you have been. So much of my daily work remains invisible… sometimes for generations. With snow blowing, each step makes a visible difference. Yes, you may have to repeat it all again in a few hours, but for the moment…

At a recent Zoom meeting, the gathered group was asked, “Tell us something that you did today or yesterday.”  We went around the circle of squares sharing our lives. 

The next question - “Where was God in what you did?” (Can you guess? It was a church meeting.)

I thought about that. Where was God (however you understand God) in blowing snow? 

We went around the circle sharing our experiences of the Holy. 

For me, it is the sense of embodiment. I tend to process life with my hands and feet. When I am blowing snow, I am blowing snow. It requires a physical and mental focus. My head is clear. I am in my body. For in this amazing body, that eats and sleeps, that dreams and loves, is often the place I experience the Holy. And in my body I get a sense of my place in the world; a sense of being connected with all that is. 

Mind you - not exclusively. Personally I experience the Holy in the voices and actions of others, in a smile, a touch, a tear, a wise word, a challenging word, in the beauty of Creation, in a sense of awe as snow blankets the trees along the highway. 

A friend, Erasmus of Alberton (PEI), shared how, on snowy Monday, he talked with a friend in Zimbabwe. While Erasmus was brushing snow off his face in windy PEI, his friend in Zimbabwe, who had never experienced snow, was brushing sweat from his brow in 35 C! 

The sense of wonder for Erasmus, came in the wonder and diversity of this amazing planet Earth; all pointing to the awesomeness of Creation and Creator.

I began January with an invitation to consider places where you and I may be astonished, as in the words of author Tomson Highway’s Permanent Astonishment. 

So as January draws to a close, I extend the same invitation. Consider for a moment - Where do you experience something mystical within or beyond yourself?