Perspective

As an adult with a full schedule of meetings to attend, services to plan, and things to do, a late-winter school-closing storm is not welcome. Work has to be juggled, meetings adjusted, not to mention the cars that have to be cleared and driveways shoveled. Talk about inconvenience!

But, not surprisingly, a child looks at a late-winter school-closing storm very differently. "It's a snow day!" Chip exults at 5:45 am (yes, it's actually possible to exult that early in the morning). Visions of snowmen, sledding, hot cocoa and romping in the snow quickly came into focus.

I don't think I'm offer any great revelation by noting that one of these perspectives is filled with a bit more joy than the other.

Play or fret.

Wonder or anxiety.

Inconvenience or serendipity.

It's all about perspective.

And perspective is one of the things Lent is meant to help us develop. We have these forty days and forty nights to step back and look anew at our lives and our priorities. That's not always easy to do. Sometimes it requires asking some hard questions and reaching some uncomfortable conclusions. We may see where we want to go, who God wants us to be and realize that to get from here to there will be challenging and discomforting. But the good news of our faith is that in the end, no matter how difficult (or snowy) the road we travel, we will arrive at our destination, one that is filled with God's grace and love.

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