CLEOEJACKSONIII.COM
  • My Home Page
  • My Life and Ministry
  • My Ongoing Thoughts
  • My Favorite Bible Verses
  • My Favorite Stories
  • My Favorite Jokes
  • My Favorite Quotations
  • My Favorite Web Links
  • My Contact Info
"Helping Others Communicate"

WINTER WONDERS

1/6/2022

 
The old folks used to say that if a snowfall lies on the ground for three days, it means another one is on the way.  They may be right.  As I type this, we are three days removed from one dusting of snow with another predicted for tonight.

When my family and I lived further south, we tended to get long summers with short spring and falls, and even shorter winters.  But the great thing about living in here in eastern Tennessee is that we pretty much get to enjoy four full seasons.  Each in its own way is a blessing.

Spring brings an explosion of color and smells and sounds as life springs forth.  Summer allows for long full days of outdoor activity.  The fall sees a display of deciduous foliage all but virtually unparalleled in other latitudes.  I have learned to enjoy the beauty of each of these seasons in their time.

But more and more these days, I find that my appreciating the splendor that only winter can provide.  Few things are as breathtaking as what Clement Moore described as the light of the “moon on the breast of the new fallen snow”, giving a “lustre of mid-day to objects below”.

Or that feeling of majesty captured so well in the movie A Christmas Story. when little Ralphie opens his window on Christmas morning and beholds the beauty of a fresh snowfall that has wondrously blanketed everything in sight.

Such sights are only enhanced by the accompanying silence that snow so often brings.  As a buffeting agent, snow tends to quite nature all on its own.  But it also usually limits the amount of traffic and other human activity that otherwise normally punctuates the average day.  Whenever this happens, one typically finds that the visual grandeur of fresh snow is further enriched.  

My wife and I discussed these and many other blessings of the season as we went “walking in a winter wonderland” this past week. 

But that walk provided me one other insight into what a winter snowfall provides.  That is the ability to see much further and deeper than at any other time of the year.  Think about it.  As beautiful as they are, the blossoms of spring and the leaf cover of summer nonetheless tend to obscure the view.  And even in the fall, when the leaves drop, as one peers through the woods, the view is often blurred by a lack of contrast.

But when the winter applies a fresh layer of snow, one begins to see through the trees to what lies beyond.  As we walked along, I glanced into the woods in every direction.  Suddenly, I could see the roof tops of numerous houses and barns as well as yards and pastures, all of which were otherwise obscured throughout the rest of the year.

I found myself able to get a far better lay of the land, as it were.  I could see hills and valleys and make out all sorts of roads and other landmarks, the existence of none of which I had heretofore known about.  And in that moment, I had a further insight.

Perhaps life itself is much the same.  Perhaps life has its seasons, all of which are a full of blessings in their own right.  In the spring of life, we come to be.  Life is fresh and so much is new with each passing day.  In summer, we come of age.  We mature and grow tall and strong.  Life is full with activity and progress.  In the fall of life, we slow down a bit as the intensity of life gives way to a fuller appreciation of the beauty if life.

But the winter of life brings a set of blessings all its own.  It provides us with insights into things we never really saw before, and gives us some solitude to reflect on and appreciate these things.

The Book of Proverbs (chapter 20, verse 29, KJV) tells us that “the glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.”  The Amplified Bible translates this verse this way: “The glory of young men is their [physical] strength, and the honor of aged men is their gray head [representing wisdom and experience].”

There were seasons when I was a young man.  Those were the spring and summer of my life.  During that time, I prided myself on my strengths and abilities.  But those seasons have now given way to other ones, to fall already, and soon, to winter.  And yet, I am not troubled by this.  Rather, I find myself thoroughly enjoying the current season, even as I look forward to the one soon to dawn. 

For even now, I find that I am better able to appreciate the beauty of life in ways I was once far too busy to value.  Even more importantly, I find that I am beginning to see things as I have never really seen them before.  The depth and breadth of that sight is refreshing, as I find myself better able to grasp and make sense of the world in which I live. 

​For all these things, I thank God more and more each day for His blessings upon me.


SCRIPTURE SOURCE:  https://biblehub.com/proverbs/20-29.htm.

Comments are closed.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    Categories

    All