Faith Hope and Fiction Blog

Cold World, Warm Hearts

Posted on Friday, January 01, 2010

             We dipped to near zero (Fahrenheit that is) overnight, with wind chills well into negative territory; a sign of the times with virtually the entire U.S. gripped in a deep freeze. Oranges are freezing on trees in Florida and iguanas are dropping from trees (or so I saw on the news yesterday). In the Northern Plains, wind chill readings reached negative 42.

            Unlike snow that needs to be navigated and ice that must be judged for safety, cold requires a special kind of resilience. To be sure, the danger of wind chills must be minded to protect exposed skin, but that is not what I am talking about. When the world is frozen we sometimes mistake it for dead, and so we cocoon in a kind of mourning and wait for a better day. On days like today, we have to look for warmth from within.

             This morning, the sky is bathed in the palest tones of pink, casting blue shadows that add graceful contours to the snowbanks. What was battled all week in a snowstorm now seems as beautiful as a hedgerow, artfully trimmed and sculpted. The red berries in the ornamental cherry tree outside—which as I wrote last week are my symbol of hope and abundance for the year—are a striking contrast in a world that is largely white, brown, black, and gray.

            I am going out today for a walk, I tell myself. My first reactions waver from excitement to disbelief. How can I leave the warmth of my cave with my writing to keep me company and a frosted window onto the world? The answer is simple, but purely illogical: because I must. Running from house to car to gym to car to home has been my exercise all week, so when it comes to physical fitness I have met my quota. Now I need to make a stand, too, for the ability to keep a warm heart in a cold world.

            Today, I have a few things on my mind that are weighing me down, making me angry if I let them: a situation that has gone from unfortunate to unfair for one, and worry for a friend's health for another. Such thoughts would draw me inward just like the cold, cold world outside, vowing not to venture out until the environment changes. I will keep separate and brood about what is and what might be. Or, I can make a choice to venture out in faith and hope to find warmth where there seems to be none. And where it is most lacking, I will provide it myself.

            Today, wherever you are, I hope there is the right amount of warmth to comfort you and coolness to refresh you. If your world outside seems particularly unwelcoming, then this is when it needs you the most.