My forty-year-old dinosaur of a heater has helped this winter to be excessively brutal. I have found myself grumbling about Old Man Winter as I’m wrapped in a Patagonia pullover and a quilt as my space heater bakes about an eighth of the room (my power bill is going to be in the thousands). I never thought there would come a day when I applauded 42 degrees. But that day has come.While I’ve had it pretty bad, others have found abject misery. What started as a mere “Cold Snap” evolved into an all-out “Winter Gridlock.” And, as we’re nearing a three-to-four-day break from all of this bedlam, we’ve found our humor again.A recent tweet says:
As we look back, and brace for another “snap”…er…blast, perhaps we should reflect on what we might have learned in the midst of this.The importance of family. When extreme weather strikes, one of the first things we do is try to locate family members. Many families have been separated this week, some for several days. Mid-week Facebook posts from Alabama ringed with praise, as families were reunited after hours and hours of toil and tumult. I guess you never know when you might be separated from your family for days or even forever. We’ve learned to cherish our moments together, to kiss our loved ones at goodbye, and to always say “I love you” when they walk out the door and into the unknown.Humility and a good apology can go a long way. I was impressed with how meteorologist James Spann handled the situation this week. He apologized for getting the forecast wrong. An apology and an admission of wrong takes a great deal of courage. While the world is teaching us not to worry about personal responsibility for our actions, James Spann demonstrated the importance of it. In his apology, he stated the following:
There was clear human suffering as a result of my bad forecast.
Wow. That takes much of a man to admit. But then…
Humility is missing in our science. There are many things we don’t know, and many things we can’t do. Just about the time you think you’re infallible, you will be brought to your knees.
Food for thought: I wonder how many lives people like James Spann have saved because they took their job seriously and informed the public to impending disaster.
Good Samaritans rise to the occasion when calamity strikes. We have heard countless tales of good citizenship during this weather disaster. Hotels opening up their doors, Chick-Fil-A giving out free food, people opening up their homes, Facebook pages being created to assist stranded motorists, winter coats being given off of backs, and rides given to complete strangers. Often, tribulation brings out the best in us, and good people always rise to the occasion. Listen to a few of the stories:
Safe and warm this morning thanks to a couple of good Samaritans that took us in this morning. –Kim48 hours after leaving my office in Hoover, I am finally HOME! So glad to see my family! Thanks to my awesome neighbor Gene for getting me to my car and following me home! –Adrian
My wife (37 weeks pregnant) and I we're stranded 20 miles from home when the winter storm hit. A very generous man rescued us and gave us a warm place to stay. Our 3 year old son had to sleep at day care overnight. On Wednesday we woke and he ask if he could fly us home. We were confused. Fly us home? After a trip to the Birmingham Airport we loaded up in a helicopter and before we knew it we were landing in our neighborhood. –Les
Sometimes we need to abandon our stuff. It’s amazing how a BMW will be left on an icy road when a driver needs the basics of life. Food. Water. Heat. Which goes to show that bare necessities are more important than material things. Maybe through this we have learned to use our resources for the greater good, instead of for our own pleasure. Perhaps this will shed some light on what it’s like to sleep on benches, visit soup kitchens for food and thrift stores for a warm coat. Perhaps we'll realize that sometimes we've got more stuff than we know what to do with.
Teachers deserve more credit. It was estimated that over 11,000 students spent the night at schools in Alabama this week. Some stayed more than one night. While it’s easy to sit back and criticize our educators or chastise them for getting off work at 3:00 (and, of course, summers), maybe we should be thankful for the job they do. The future of America is in their hands.
God is still in control. The most powerful and impressive things in the universe are the things that God created. Natural things. Nothing humans have created can stop weather. I am reminded of the great scene in the movie
Patton, when the cocksure general asked that a “weather prayer” be written so that the Yanks could aggressively advance uninhibited by rain. Here’s what Catholic chaplain James O’Neill came up with:
"Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen.” We have learned from Snowmageddon that there are times when we simply cannot predict the weather. As much as we rely on technology, and as much as new technology can help us in so many ways, the only thing in this world that humans can truly rely on is God.