Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Perspective on Winter

November is casting its gray shadows where I live. A friend once gave me sage advice: David, I learned a long time ago not to pay homage to the weather. We had been walking across a broad blacktopped parking lot in an Arizona summer. The temperature was well into the one hundred and teens. Jim was older than I, and had lived his entire life in the Arizona desert. My question had been, Jim, does the weather ever get you down?

Now I'm not going to pretend that dark days don't play their games with my outlook. But I will profess that I love this time of year. My son calls winter his favorite season. There is power in resignation and submission. As I often say: God is God, and I am not. Really, when it comes down to it, that settles lots of things.

Our first winter back in Brown County, we didn't have a four-wheel-drive vehicle to get us up the quarter mile hill and to our driveway. There were a few times when, after several runs at it, I had to park at the bottom and walk up the steep incline--in dress shoes--to make it home. The worse part were the times when the hill had started to melt and then re-frozen. A nice glaze of ice makes going downhill an adrenaline rush that you'd rather not have. Especially since at the bottom of the hill is State Highway 46, and 55 MPH traffic. (Finally I had justification to get my Jeep Wrangler!) My Jeep--or as I call it, my vacation between destinations--makes winter much more bearable.

I guess this is my annual appeal to people who love to complain about the weather (or who think there is something not fair about it, or who think life is better where the climate is different), this is my plea for them to consider letting the elements be the elements. Allow the high and low systems to come and go as they will. It feels good to embrace the brace of winter. And then be grateful when you have a warm place to go home to.

I've had to turn down two people this morning who need help with their rent. They may not be so fortunate as to have a warm place to call home this winter. Now that is something I'm tempted to whine about...as I sit in my beautiful and centrally heated church office.

5 comments:

Zee said...

i still complain about the weather :) the main thing about this transition between seasons that drives me up the wall is absence of sunlight. that's probably the only thing that i don't like about weather changes. i actually wish for winter because even though it will be much colder, at least when the bright rays of sun reflect in the snow pearls, that makes my mood improve...

*sigh* and i am generally in a "complainish" mood today.

Amanda Durbin said...

Hey David,
Just thought I would send you a small note to let you know that I just finished your book this last weekend and really enjoyed reading it. It stirred up lots of feelings that this young pastor has felt many a day -- so glad this is out there and can help 'educate' many laymen out there of the stresses in the pastorate. Keep writing, I'm waiting for the follow up book now... -- still enjoying your blogs!

Unknown said...

The quick season of fall to winter, to fall back to winter that comes and goes daily in Colorado, has been my awakened moment that God is God and the sun that is here daily is His blessing to me that He is here even in the midst of change and the unknown going on in this pastors life right now.

david said...

Thanks Amanda, sounds good Mark and quit complaining Zee! :) Just kidding. I remember quite a lot of gray in the Kyivski winters. I always thought the Colorado ones would be nice.

Zee said...

haha, okay, will do :-D and to add a story of God's hilarious sense of humor, we actually got beautiful blue skies the next day after i posted the comment :-D so much for complaining.

but yeah, i like sunshiny days (since i don't own a Jeep Wrangler yet :)))