The Gray Season

The weather here can't decide what it wants to do. Snow? Rain? Plunge to near-zero temperatures? Ice over?

The only consistent thing about the weather these past couple weeks has been the persistent gray. Sometimes it's an expectant gray, full of potential for glittery snow. Sometimes it's a dreary gray, reflecting the muddy edges of collapsing snowbanks along the salt-stained road.

These past two weeks have been dreary ones around church - too many deaths, too many chronic illnesses, too many unexpected diagnoses - and you can tell that we are all feeling weather-worn and emotionally exhausted.

I'm ready for fresh snow or for sun - for the outside world to feel less like Lent and more like Easter, less like waiting and more like fulfillment, less like death and more like life.