Good morning, Father! The fire is warm by my side though I can hear the cold wind blowing outside. And it is dark but I know the beautiful snow continues to fall.

Prior to the last couple of days, Ohio has experienced a “brown” winter season -lots of rain, which equals lots of mud. Most trees are bare, so much of the scenery is a brownish grey. But today… when the sun comes up today our eyes will behold a new and fresh landscape! Ohioans will wake to a carpet of shimmering white – snow has come! And it is beautiful!

Many live in a perpetual “brown” winter – not so much in the world around them but from a spiritual perspective. Life has rained upon our parade. Life is dreary. There is nothing vibrant, just a world of browns and greys. And that’s the way it is day after day after day. Life is a muddy mess and many are drowning in hopelessness.

Sin and all its repercussions overwhelm us. It is all that can be seen – seemingly a never ending panorama of gloom… and doom. And that doom is all too real. Without someone intervening it will lead to not just a temporary separation from God but an eternal one. In and of ourselves there is no light at the end of the tunnel – this is no hope.

But praise be to God, we have Christ! When Christ comes into the picture change and with it – hope – arrives . He covers over the browns and greys – the sin in our lives – with the pure snow of His love and forgiveness. And as long as we remain in relationship with Him the beauty of His presence remains in our lives.

Isaiah 1:18 reads,

“Come now let’s settle this, says the Lord,” Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow…”

The beauty and purity of newly fallen snow becomes a reality in our “brown” world – Thank You, Lord!

Jan 12th, Tues, 5:52 am