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.

Having lived most of my adult life it Massachusetts, it hasn’t been much better.  Snow up over the door making it difficult to get out of the house – trying to figure out exactly where the car is (we never had a garage!) – shoveling ‘tons’ of snow just to get out of the driveway only to have a snowplow come along minutes later and fill the end of the driveway in again – having to use my blow-dryer to get out my back door (frozen shut!) – wondering if I would be able to make it to work . . .    No!  Snow has no place of fondness on my winter radar!

I felt, and still do feel that the only place snow belongs is on calendar pictures.  And I do admit, those pictures are really pretty – breath-taking!  Or, it belongs out of reach, being totally unaffected by it – for example, as I fly over the alps in Europe – or, as I drive along-side one of the ranges in the Carpathian Mountains in my beloved Romania – in the summertime!  Those are really the only places I want to see the white fluffy stuff (or, heavy wet stuff).

You can imagine my dismay as I write this article, it is snowing!  In Georgia!!  I almost have taken it as a personal offense – and then I realized that there are at least twenty-five verses in the Bible mentioning snow.  Some of the verses are used figuratively and some symbolically, but this definite creation of God – part of His design for our world – is important to Him.  It is part of His plan for us – for this earth.  I had an aunt who just loved the snow.  But then, of course, she never had to get up from her chair and actually go out and try to function in it.   My grandchildren LOVE snow, but they don’t have to shovel it – and see it as a day off school.   So, I’m thinking that I will always like the ‘figurative snow’ more than ‘reality snow’ that my family loves.  I especially love it used figuratively in the words of this song that I used to sing and sign at least once every winter at my church.  As the snow drifted down past the windows, it made for a great object lesson –

‘I once read in a poem when snow covers the earth, that it hides the world’s scars, and gives nature new birth.  They say when a man turns from sin to the Lord, that forgiveness, like snow, covers him evermore!  And somewhere it’s snowing – see the soft drifting down.  As the snowflakes surrender to the hardening ground.  Like the good grace of Jesus that now covers our sin, in the kingdom of Heaven, it’s snowing, again.’   –  Stearman/Boosahda    You can listen to this song at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzCKNnlK7lo

So, I do pray right now, that ‘somewhere it’s snowing’ . . .