The Mission Statement of Roberts Park United
Methodist Church:
"A Home in the Heart of the City for all
who seek to experience and share Christ's love through Worship,
Fellowship and Service."
It began snowing downtown around 2:00 p.m. A few
hours later, when I left the church, four inches of snow covered
the ground. The roads were slick and travel was treacherous.
All avenues home were gridlocked. But this is where the story
becomes difficult to describe.
Here is one way to tell what happened next. Traffic
was often at a standstill. I considered alternate routes home,
but nothing looked very promising. The snow continued to pile
up and I had to get out of the car a couple of times to remove
fresh snow from the rear window and mirrors. The snow was a major
inconvenience. As the hours wore on, I was aware of how tired
I was and how high my stress level was. It took two and a half
hours to make a trip that normally takes about 15 minutes.
Somewhere along the way, amid the stress and fatigue,
a new perspective emerged. I stopped trying to move the traffic
(which I had been unsuccessful at anyway!) and began to breathe
deeply and try to relax. When I did this, what I experienced
around me changed. There was another way to describe what was
happening.
I saw three young children playing in the snow,
throwing snowballs and making snow angels. I saw a man with a
snow blower clearing his sidewalk and then continuing until he
had cleared the sidewalk of the neighbors on both sides (yes,
I was moving that slow!) I noticed the beauty of the snow as
it covered the fir trees. I saw a stranded motorist being pushed
free from a ditch by a good Samaritan.
It strikes me that much of life is about perspective.
It is about how we look at the things around us. We might look
at an event as a major inconvenience. Or it might be an opportunity
to experience joy and beauty and caring. Same event, different
perspectives.
In this season of new beginnings, may we start the
new year with an old prayer about perspectives. It says, “God,
grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the
courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the
difference.” May this new year be filled with insight and
perspective to recognize the blessings God gives us every day.