I do not usually get taken by surprise by the weather, but this morning I woke up, and we had eight inches of snow on the ground. I usually pay pretty close attention to the weather but for some reason yesterday I just tuned it right out. The last report I saw said 2 to 3 inches and then turn to rain. I did not prepare at all, and I was caught with all that snow and the snow blower buried in the shed. Well it all worked out just grand and we are well on the way to digging out.
But it got me to thinking. I like the snow, I like it best of course when I don’t have to go anywhere, and I can stand in the window, with a hot cup of tea, and watch it fall. I think I like it because, for a short period of time, it covers up all of those things that I did not have a chance to take care of before the snow falls. The ground is covered with a white blanket that hides all of the mistakes and other such things underneath it and for a short time it’s as if they are gone.
Sometimes our spiritual life can be like that. We find something that we can use to cover over the bad bits of our life so no one can see them. We put on a happy face and go about our lives, and no one is aware of the hurts and disappointments that lurk right beneath the surface. We are all broken people, and we all have those things that we do not want anyone to see.
Years ago, when I was a monk in a Benedictine Monastery, I had a spiritual father who could see right through that blanket that I was using to cover over that stuff. I can recall one time in confession, I was holding something back. I am not sure what it was, but he mentioned to me that I was holding back, this is how well he knew me. So whatever it was I confessed it, and that thing came out from under the blanket.
The funny thing about that snow that is on the ground right outside my window is in a few days or maybe a week, it will all be gone, and all of that stuff will be visible again, and I will have to deal with it straight away. There is nothing I can do about it now, but there is something you can do about what lies beneath your blanket of snow.
Seek the healing that Christ’s Holy Church has to offer. We are not here to judge you for whatever it might be, we are here to bring the healing presence of Jesus into your life and to help you on your road to recovery. Take the time to seek out this healing so when that blanket of snow melts all of that stuff will be gone.
A bit chilly here too, a brisk 67 degrees this afternoon.