Winter's Joy

I love winter because it is so different from summer. The sun dances on the new snow in a way no artist can replicate. And, how about this word: SNOWBOUND. Now there is a word of pure joy.  You wake up in the morning and the snow drifts are so high that you cannot even think about going to work. So you stay in your soft clothes, make some coffee (or hot chocolate!), and spend a day doing nothing, except maybe playing in the snow, and then having more hot chocolate!

Speaking of soft clothes, are these not the world’s greatest fashion discovery? Soft clothes are wonderful because they are so, well, soft, and warm and generous. After a big meal of comfort food (two helpings of meat loaf and potatoes and corn covered with butter), you take off the working day clothes, especially that belt, and you put on your warm, expandable soft clothes and read a book or watch a movie and take a nap before it’s time to go to bed. Did I mention I love winter?

As a friend mentioned to me this week, which has been a particularly brutal one with snow and sleet and something they all “wintry mix”, she loves winter because her life slows down. Life forces her to stay inside enjoying the fire burning from the firewood she collected from the outside.  The slower pace of winter is just what the soul needs a few months of ever year. You can find joy in slowness, and sometimes it takes a “wintry mix” to force us to discover the joy of a slower pace.

Which all reminds me of Pablo Picasso’s words: “Without great solitude no serious work is possible.” (discovered at “inward/outward”)  The joy of winter is that it offers opportunities for solitude, which can only happen when we “slow down, you move to fast…”.  Great work doesn’t happen necessarily happen during solitude, but it is the fertilizer of the mind and heart which produces great work.  If you want to really talk with God this week, try first slowing down, seek solitude, and, if necessary, pray for a snow storm. I will enjoy every moment of it with you.

Oh, and for our warm weather readers, you will need to find solitude on a hot day as you sit by the pool, sipping one of those drinks with little umbrellas, dreaming of snow. We will pray for you.