Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.’  –  Psalm 51.7

 Every time I hear the words from the familiar old holiday song, ‘Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow’ – I have to tell you that those are not my sentiments at all!  In my mind I am saying, ‘No!  No!  No!’  Even though I grew up in Down East Maine where it was not uncommon for it to snow every day in the winter – where we had to put ‘flags’ on our car antennas  so that other vehicles could see us approaching intersections – where snow plows plowed around the clock – and where the snow mounted up over one’s door making it necessary to find Plan B to get out of the house, I just never got used to – nor did I ever gain a fondness for snow.

I used to have an oblong sign hanging down from the knob on my back door that read, “I don’t do Mondays”.  I meant it.  I don’t know if it was because of a psychological reason, or if perhaps I expended more energy on the weekends being involved in music on Sundays at my church and the occasional concerts, but Monday was not my best day.  I operated at half-steam.  Actually, I used to feel a bit sorry for my Monday students – that I just wasn’t giving them my best.  Tuesday, I was in high-gear, but on Mondays we did calmer things – perhaps like listening to a movement from a particular concerto, and then doing a writing assignment on it.

Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;”   Ephesians 5.20

It is interesting to watch different behavioral patterns and how some people react to a given situation compared to others.  What I have learned is, that behavior knows no socio-economic boundaries.  For example –

Several years ago when I was teaching music at Central High School in Providence, RI, as usual per any day I headed to the main office to pick up my mail.  In the teacher’s mail boxes would be stuffed certainly plenty of notices and important information, but also a fair share of ‘junk mail’ which promptly went into the waste basket.  One day, however, one of the unsolicited fillers seemed to catch my eye, and I even took time to read it.