Pastor's Pen
A monthly message from the hand of Pastor Stockman
If ever thereās a month that deserves snow, itās January. I know you all are thinking āWhat about a white Christmasā? Those are fine; Iām not saying you canāt have one. But as for a month that should be filled with snow, which is January. Itās cold enough, itās dark enough, and it needs all the help it can get! Thereās also something wonderful about a new snow. I love looking out the window and seeing the beautiful white scene. I love how it softens the look of everything and adds a layer of mystery to the ground. Before the tire tracks, the footprints, and especially the salt and ice melt, the unspoiled beauty of a landscape covered in snow cannot be beaten.
I know all of this runs counter to our ability to get around. And I am one of those who hate it when the roads are snow-covered and slick. I know itās probably selfish, but thereās just something about seeing a new snowfall that makes me happy. Snow also holds, in my mind at least, the promise of something new, something unknown. I feel it apropos to write about snow in light of the New Year. With all that could happen, and all the promise a new year holds, I canāt help making the connections.Ā
I also canāt help making connections with Godās word. Snow is often upheld as a standard of whiteness and purity. King David, in his famous 51st psalm, claims that Godās washingĀ will leave him āwhiter than snow.ā This is most certainly true. That cleanliness to which David is referring is a gift of God in baptism. It lasts for the rest of our lives, in the eyes of God. This ultimate purity is that upon which all our hopes for our ultimate future rests. We are blessed, even without snow on the ground, to be white as snow through our baptisms into our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us live our New Year's lives forgiven and white as snow.
Rev. Reed Stockman