Wisconsin is giving us a blizzard today. I cannot see even a silhouetted trace of the bluff that's across my street. Nor can I see the street. I can make out dirty paths where my memory says the blacktop lays, but that is it. I love the mass chaos of it, and I always like to see God's power leave me powerless.
I've been thinking all day about an excerpt from a book titled "The Shack" by William P. Young. I can't get these thoughts out of my head, and I really like them. So I'm just going to quote the book instead of trying to blog as if they're my own ideas.
"There is something joyful about storms that interrupt routine. Snow or freezing rain suddenly releases you from expectations, performance demands, and the tyranny of appointments and schedules. And unlike illness, it is largely a corporate rather than individual experience. One can almost hear a unified sigh rise from the nearby city and surrounding countryside where Nature has intervened to give respite to the weary humans slogging it out within her purview. All those affected this way are united by a mutual excuse, and the heart is suddenly and unexpectedly a little giddy. There will be no apologies needed for not showing up to some commitment or other. Everyone understand and shares in this singular justification, and the sudden alleviation of the pressure to produce makes the heart merry.
Of course, it is also true that storms interrupt business and, while a few companies make a bit extra, some companies lose money--meaning there are those who find no joy when everything shuts down temporarily. But they can't blame anyone for their loss of production, or for not being able to make it to the office. Even if it's hardly more than a day or two, somehow each person feels like the master of his or her own world, simply because those little droplets of water freeze as they hit the ground.
Even commonplace activities become extraordinary. Routine choices become adventures and are often experienced with a sense of heightened clarity. . ."
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