WINTER AT THE DOOR

I live in western Canada. As winter draws near days are growing shorter.

Today sunrise was 8:35 a.m., so for me that's dawn. I was up before then and had my morning devotion at 7:00 (Mountain Standard time) while it was still dark outside. The house was quiet and had a chill. I got a fire going in the fireplace and put on the coffee. (Ah, that wonderful mixed aroma of birch wood burning and coffee brewing!)

This morning's Scripture reading was Psalm 57. King David wrote "Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn." Well, I don't have lyre music but I have a recording of the guitar master Andre Segovia performing Bach so it played in the background while the fire crackled, aromatic coffee percolated and I spent a quiet and tender time with God in His word.*

It's not that any revelation came to me, it didn't. I simply was aware of His presence. It was not that anything was said, it wasn't. I simply basked in the knowledge that I am loved and that the Holy Spirit was with me in the quiet of my room. Everything grew still in the majesty of the moment. The only sound was my heart beating within my chest (and the snapping and crackles of the fire in the next room).The word that comes to mind to describe the experience is contentment. It was the same momentus spiritual sensation that has occasionally and fleetingly visited me since early childhood.

BEHIND FROSTY WINDOWS:

It's November so any morning I will awaken to discover the first snow of the season has fallen overnight to blanket the earth. The wrought iron gate in the hedge at back of my yard will be adorned with a white cap along its railing. The red roof of Tether's End will have turned white -- just like it has done for nearly a quarter of a century. As the frigid Canadian winter deepens and arctic winds blow across the prairies, I will enter my annual cloister.

I am reminded of a description of winter passed indoors that Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932) wrote in his children's classic book The Wind in the Willows:**

"In the winter time the Rat slept a great deal, retiring early and rising late. During his short day he sometimes scribbled poetry or did other small domestic jobs about the house; and, of course, there were always animals dropping in for a chat, ... ."

Winter is a time to rest. People complain about winter but I have developed a love affair with all the Seasons -- even that desolate Canadian deep-freeze between January and April.  Put together, the seasons give a sense of order and balance to life.

Vast snowbanks make it difficult to get about in my electric wheelchair so I spend days and even weeks in the house meditating the things of God and listening for that still small voice. The quiet and stillness of winter is a blessed time of spiritual renewal for me reading the Holy Scriptures and classic literature -- one of which I was just reminded.

I think I'll get another cup of coffee and re-read The Wind in the Willows. Cheers!

Mark
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*Segovia playing the music that floated through the air can be heard at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBQfHJA2Lng&feature=related .
**Wind in the Willows was publish in 1908.  Kenneth Grahame wrote the story of anthropomorphic animals Rat, Mole, Badger and Toad and their life beside a river.