Snow has arrived, and I know it will be here for several months. For myself, although so many in our area look forward to recreation on the fluffy white, for me, it is the driving on the fluffy stuff that causes hesitation and anxiety. Winter can be a challenge, but also a blessing; winter seems to slow us down in many ways. Makes us more aware to see the white that democratically covers everything outside our sheltered homes. It can also bring us to a place of peace that makes us more receptive to taking time for reflection and, yes, prayer.

Winter can make us more aware of ourselves, and it is here that we may have time, as a Christian, to pray. The silence of winter is a good place to allow that solitude we seem not to have in summer. Summer often seems to be a rush of relatives and events, keeping us in a dither and complicating our day with activities. An early snowfall draws us in with the gentle flakes that descend from some infinite place in the sky. They fall silent and pull us into the mystery of the season, genuinely and intimately bringing the natural world and our being into a clarifying mood. When the first heavy snow comes, I must be honest, I think of my pathway to the front door and if the snow shovel is in the basement. Snow and winter force one to believe in practical strategies so we can see a clear path. Will I be able to send the mail I intended to the post office, which is some miles away? Will the roads be easy to drive on or too slick? Many in my family see driving as an adventure and a challenge in winter. The snowfall presents an opportunity to utilize a machine to clear things up, shove the white stuff out of the way.

When I walk outside in the winter, I become a visual element in my red and blue coat against the white; I stand out as a singular element in a sea of chilly monochromatic snow. What often makes winter for me is when sound changes. I can hear children playing half a mile away, their voices traveling through crisp, clean air. My breath hangs suspended for a moment. And my voice sounds peculiar in the open air. This is winter.

This time of year, allows us to reflect, to examine who we are, and to discover what lies within our minds and hearts. Our current world is full of motion, action, and doing, asking us to be present on so many questions and situations, demanding our immediate attention. How often do we take time to look at who we are and where we are going in our lives? How frequently do we realize that we have a companion who is there with us? Jesus is not only in the Bible and in the Church, but He is also there to listen to us and give us rest. We are not alone; we have a love that is so happy to see us and enter into our silence, to share and offer us both guidance and affection.

Often, I think people feel that Jesus is so strict or above them that He could never be interested in our small individual lives. We see Jesus as God, who was, but he came as a small child. He came into being to dwell with us. He walked and talked, ate and drank, much as we do. He is there not only as God but as our friend.

He is listening to everything we have to say, to our dreams, to our shortcomings, to our selfishness. Christianity, unlike other religions, is centered on a personal God who sees each of us as an individual. He, Jesus, desires to know us one-to-one. He knows we are human and offers forgiveness and wholeness to those who will walk with Him.

Winter is a perfect time to turn our hearts and lives open to His presence. The winter, with its silence and snow, is an ideal place to meet Him. To open our lives to grace. The winter, with its frosty breath, teaches us how dependent we are on warmth. The warmth of love, acceptance, forgiveness, goodness, and sacrifice. These are all inside us; we only have to put them into action. Find Jesus in your heart, allow the season of snow to teach us to listen, to pray, to be grateful. Find in the season’s silence Jesus who is waiting patiently to know you.

He spreads the snow like wool
and scatters the frost like ashes.
 He hurls down his hail like pebbles.
Who can withstand his icy blast?
He sends his word and melts them;
he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow. (Psalm 147:16-18)