February, 2026 – Gloves? Mittens??

I grew up in the State of Maine where it snowed nearly every day of the Winter months. It didn’t always collect, but it just snowed . . . !   It was cold seven months of the year, and ‘freezing cold’ at least three months of the year.  Ice. Snow. Cold. More ice – snow – cold!   And I never got used to any of it.  Often wondered why my ancestors couldn’t have steered that boat a little further ‘south-left’ when approaching land in the new world!!  However, it ended up that I am a New Englander through and through, but still not a fan of Winter.

I just went out at 8:30a in 8 degrees weather to do some errands.  I had not even reached the end of Berry St. (which of course corners with Holly St.) when I so wished that I had worn mittens instead of gloves.  My hands were already uncomfortably cold with seemingly no hope of warming up in a car which I really like but certainly takes its time in generating some heat.

I’ve always known this, but just forgot to take the principle into account this morning.  The reason mittens are so much more practical in ‘freezing’ – make that below freezing weather! – is that one’s fingers are all intact with each other.  The body warmth that is in them manages to give off more warmth than if they are all separated in gloves.  And with the particular mittens I wish I’d worn, they had a warm, thermal lining.

It came to me that isn’t it much like that for Christians?  We do so much better when we work together – pray, think, interact, worship, function together – so enabling us to better serve our Creator, Savior, and Sustainer when things get uncomfortable.  There is an alone-ness, a dysfunctional mentality when we think we can live our Christian lives better by ourselves.  Not unlike my fingers out of touch with each other, gloved – I find that Christians who have little to no association with the Body, can get cold, and more than likely remain cold – spiritually.

Then the warmth of the gloves’ insides made me think of the warmth and love of entering  my church whether here in MA or in Romania.  It is so much better to be there -together – where Christ’s love radiates.  That alone keeps us bathed in the Son-shine of how God intended for Christians to live their lives.  As we all well know, all of our fingers are different – different shapes, sizes and lengths.  The Body of Christ is like that.  We all have our unique personalities for which God has tailor-made a specific purpose.  My fingers don’t ‘fight/wrangle’ inside my thermal mittens.  They appreciate each other – hug up to each other – perform so much better in their closeness.

I want to be a ‘mitten-person’ – in my church, my family, in the marketplace wherever my day takes me.  I pray that the Lord will continually show me the value of ‘mitten-ness’ (just made that word up!) – to function as one with the Body of Christ.

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”   – Romans 15:5,6