Winter makes us better

Buffalo NY this week was hit with a massive winter storm. Winter is weird because half the city got hit worse than the other half. One guy commented that his taxes were higher where he lived, and one of the benefits of that is less snow. Basically he was saying the poor side of Buffalo got hit harder. He was kidding, but it doesn't it seem strange that snow storms are more specific. In Calgary Alberta we get a flood or a winter storm, and in Edmonton (three hours away) it is sunny. One year they got a tornado while we basked in the hot. Bad weather likes to hit a spot and never usually goes from place to place.

            Why talk about snow and what we all hate: bad weather? I have often wondered if places like Australia have bad weather. They get storms and Tsunami’s but do they get bad winters? Is a bad winter day in Sydney come down to staying at home from the beach because its 20 degrees Celsius compared to 30. A man living in California said he put on a sweater because it had dipped to 15c (oh brother). In Alberta that is a very nice summer day. I bet it is in Buffalo too. I say it’s healthy to embrace bad weather.

            I noticed that most Canadians (in September) are out in their yards preparing for winter (do tropical places do that). I wonder if all summer we repair and prepare for winter. It’s nice to receive summer but deep inside us we are always preparing for winter. We put our boots and mitts away, but in august people are buying for winter. I want a new shovel for snow. I want new Christmas lights. I love that winter coat.

            I deliver mail so my favorite memory was delivering two days in frigid -49c and surviving. I wear that badge proudly. I don’t have a favorite sunny story. Why don’t I if I love the sun more than the cold? I feel it’s because the winter weather makes us better. Winter keeps us prepared for the worst (like Buffalo). Winter forces us to spend time with each other inside. Christmas is spent within a small space sharing each other. We survive bad weather and remember tough snow days and ice storms. Our football teams succeed or fail in the winter. They always say they know the winter is what makes your team real.

            What does God have to say about winter? In Matthew 20 Jesus says that we should pray that Judgment day does not come during the winter. Paul asks Timothy to come before winter. Psalm 74 says God made the summer and winter. In the Bible we have opposites: good and evil, men and women, slaves and masters, and summer and winter. God is always asking us to prepare for the day of redemption. Jesus says “be ready” in several parables. I feel winter prepares us to prepare so to speak.

            We look forward to skiing, tobogganing, and skating. We love hot chocolate and warm fires. Someone said that pretty girls disappear in Buffalo in late august and reappear in the spring. I think a pretty girl in a sweater is hot (bikini is too easy). Winter gives us a pair of something: balls, mitts, and boots. Who will shovel and who will help dig you out? God brings and we react: we endure. In the Bible David stayed behind in the spring when Kings go to war, but they don’t fight in the winter. Even armies are not stupid. There is a time for everything.

            Look at your winter this way: there is a time to embrace. We embrace the warm sun in the summer. We embrace each other in the winter. We embrace our country by the weather we have. Australia promotes the sun. North America promotes a winter wonder land. We embrace family in the winter and scatter in the summer. Winter makes us better people. I think we love the summer because we survived the winter. Buffalo will dig themselves out and remember. Around here in Calgary we are known by the flood we survived. We are made for and by the winters we receive, and that’s a beautiful thing.