Snow globes of hope

Who doesn't love a snow globe? They have a magical quality to them that touches young and old. We start off with the still scene, give the globe a shake and hundreds of snowflakes bounce around. Then they gradually settle back down creating a new snowy carpeted scene. 

Our lives too have changing scenes. Well-being becomes a barometer altered by the shifting tides of failing health and healing. Relationships can grow or break down, blossom or fade, heralding emotional fluctuations. A family's dynamics shift when a member dies or leaves, for whatever reason. They also alter when there is a birth or a new person joins the family. People's roles or jobs in life can change bringing new senses of identity and have financial implications. Moving house, relocating, emigrating or working abroad bring with them altering parameters to familiar routines.

Like a snow globe we are caught in a maelstrom that requires our response. And for those of faith, our relationship with God can affect how we respond. We can bring God into the equation. We can be like the wise man who built his house on the rock. We can rebuild our lives using the roots of our faith as foundation stones. The rebuilding may be slow. It may only evolve one brick at a time. We may not even be able to envisage what the final build will look like. But, that is ok. We don’t need to know. We just need to trust that we will get there.

Then, when the snow eventually settles, we will find a new shape has been created. It won’t be the same as the one before. Life has changed. But, it will have the unspoken tenets of faith built in to it. Those building blocks of love, trust and peace enabling us to look to the future again with a sprinkling of hope.

Snow Geese at Night

Google Image from Audubon 

I can hear them

 I can’t see them

Snow geese that fly at night

They seem infinite in their numbers

Every night the past month I heard them call

This time when they are elsewhere

I will remember selfless calls

Their perfect V’s

Unseen to those who fly

I will remember

The perfection of their V

Silhouetted above the street lights

Generated by the air that we can not see

Explained by the geese that can only feel

When they are in the right place

Singing with the ecstasy

Of remembering

Their home

           Let

                 Me

                     Live

                           The

                     Way

               They

           Fly

By John Miller  

http://john-millar.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/snow-geese-at-night.html 

Walking a step or two

Minister's walk - Prosen to Clova, Angus

Snow covered hills in Angus catch my eye as I drive to and from work. From a distance you notice their beauty. From afar all is pure and white. If the sun is shining you get the impression that the snow is glistening in the sunlight. But, if you were there, in amongst it all you may have a different impression. There may be challenges to be meet. The cold biting in for one. Or perhaps there would be slippery conditions underfoot. In extreme parts the deep snow may make travelling onwards virtually impossible. A reminder that when we look at another person's life we may not always get the right impression. It can be easy to make snap judgements - for better or worse. But, really, unless we are truly walking in their shoes, we have no idea what their journey is all about. What we can do is take the time to get to know them better and perhaps walk a step or two along the way with them.

In the bleak midwinter

As I was driving along to work in rural Angus this winter scene caused me to stop the car and step out. A beautiful winter landscape that brought to mind one of our beautiful Christmas hymns:-

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;

Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.

In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, Whom cherubim, worship night and day,

Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;

Enough for Him, Whom angels fall before,

The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;

But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,

Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;

Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.