Community after the blizzard

In the Chicago area, from what I can gather, things went rather well during the blizzard.  People had advance warning to stock up on groceries.  Most stayed home and didn’t get stuck and become part of a crisis.  Even the newscasters were commenting on how the blizzard brought people together to help each other.

Before the plows came

I pray for my condo community, which is part family, part neighborhood.  I pray for cooperation, support, fellowship, harmony, peace -- those qualities we want to see in our neighbors.  Sometimes there is no clue as to how things are going.

Johanna looking for snow to shovel

About 10 pm, Anita called from the building at the other end of our complex.  "My truck is stuck in the drive.  I've tried everything and can't move it.  I'm going inside now."

So, is anyone cut off from God’s love and care, even during a blizzard?  It cannot be.  Where God, good is ever-present, no one can be stuck outside that universal goodness.

Within minutes I saw from my window a young man running down the snow-filled drive with a snow shovel.  It turns out his brother had pulled in and was stuck behind Anita’s truck.  Both men helped her get her truck into a parking slot, and within a few more minutes, their van was also in its parking slot.  She was so grateful.

Lauren peaks the local Matterhorn!

The plows came during the night after the wind stopped, and the next morning (after the snow had stopped).  Nearly everyone spontaneously moved their vehicles so the plows could clear maximum parking slots.  Owners were chatting and laughing as they congregated in little groups to watch the plowers do their swift work.

My heart filled with gratitude to see this sense of community and good-will in action. 

Peace and silence afterward

Paul understood that nothing could separate him from the love of God -- and he had been jailed, beaten, betrayed, ship-wrecked, snake-bit, stoned and left for dead -- he had proved the oneness of God and His creation every day of his missionary life.

I was glad to see a glimpse of this oneness after the blizzard.