Monday, January 31, 2011

Winter chills and snow storms

We go through life in a rush, always busy, sticking to routine, out of breath, running around from one thing to another. And then sometimes, God disrupts the schedule. He changes the lights to red, and causes us to come to a halt. The stop signs come in a variety of shapes and sizes, sometimes it's a lost job, sometimes it's sickness, sometimes it's the loss of a loved one, sometimes it's people, sometimes it's friends and family, and many a times, it's just a bad day. And occasionally God brings in nature. For me, it was Snow. And lots of it. It disrupts our daily life, brings cars and planes and people to a crippling stop. But it also changes our vision. Snow makes black things look white, the ordinary becomes beautiful, and the beautiful comes ordinary. We no longer admire the snow-covered car as beautiful, but we surely admire the trees in the back garden, that were there all along, but had never gotten our attention. The streets we cross everyday,the roads, the houses, the people, everything looks beautiful. Majestic. Sacred. Why? it's a change of lens, a different filtering of light, another perspective. Some coloured pictures look more elegant in black and white. And all stop signs are there for a purpose. They keep us safe. I thank God for the red lights He's placed in my life, (I might have ran over a lot of people without them; provided I didn't kill myself first), but sometimes I wonder wouldn't it be better if God didn't have to use a megaphone to get my attention? What if a gentle whisper was enough?