Go ahead and play the song while you read 🙂

It’s been such a mild winter this year, and I am so happy about that!! I am not at all a fan of winter, and I am definitely not a fan of the snow.  When I lived in Pollock Pines (a town close to Lake Tahoe) we would get buried in the snow. We had the longest winters there, the snow would fall from October until March. I HATE being cold, and tromping through the snow to get to the school bus really sucked. I dreaded the coming of winter and always prayed that maybe this year it wouldn’t come. But of course it always came with a vengeance. One winter day, as per usual I sat  by the fireplace content to listen to the crackling of the fire. And as the warmth of the fire began to lull me to sleep, something unusual happened. I looked out the window and found myself admiring the snow for the first time. Instead of being irritated by it, I found myself falling in love with its beauty. It seemed unearthly and magical and perfect. So still, so lovely and so pure. I found myself wishing at that moment that the world could stay that way forever.

And that is what inspired me to write this poem.

SNOWFALL

Brilliant bright snow falls, engulfing all that lies before it,

Snow blankets all that’s beneath, as the world becomes still.

All else has faded away, taken the form of snow itself.

I have seen these roads and homes long before the snowflakes made this place their bed,

It was ugly, it was dull, it was dark and full of dirt…

But now snow has fallen on this old town and transformed it into purity.

The scene before me now stands purely white, in shocking beauty.

And in perfect silence, as if in reverence of its shield of snow,

The snow continues to pour as if in determined purpose.

As if determined to cover all that was naked.

Enveloping all things, as far as my eye can see,

It rains down, until nothing is left untouched by snow.

And even then, it continues on!

Embracing every roof, every tree, every car.. gently embracing everything in its path.

The snow continues to fall,

in excess it spills over,

It piles up round the base and sides of everything that is exposed.

Finally the whiteness has wrapped the world in a protecting and comforting blanket.

And even then, the snow continues to fall..

Snow so white and glorious, it blinds my transfixed eyes.

The snow falls on, abounding in excess

What a privilege to behold its beauty!!

As snowfalls, compensating for our weakness

And covers our nakedness..

It whispers to me..

“Am I not a perfect example of the Father who pours himself out unreservedly over His children?”

_______________________________

(Image by Thomas Kinkade)