Fighting the Winter Blues

Good Afternoon Edgemont!

As I am writing this, the sun is shining on a beautiful day. Most of the ice and snow is gone, we are finally able to get back to our normal routine that was interrupted by last week’s snow and ice. Winter can be a difficult season of the year. It’s cold and we see the sun less. Some of you may have seen the hilarious video It’s A Southern Thing posted called “It’s Okay to be a Winter Grump (you can find it here if you need a laugh today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6Pfffm-F5o) and can completely identify with that point of view. Whether we call it the winter blues or a case of seasonal affectedness disorder (SAD), winter can be a time of year we struggle.

When you combine the difficulty of the weather with the ever-present level of disheartening news in our world, it is easy to get depressed and discouraged. Today, my devotional offered an encouraging quote from the great Catholic activist and journalist, Dorothy Day that lifted me up that I want to share with you, called “The Sap is Rising”:

January and February are those months when winter seems interminable and vitality is low. In the face of world events, in the face of the mystery of suffering, of evil in the world, it is a good time to read the Book of Job, and then to go on reading the Psalms, looking for comfort – that is, strength to endure. Also to remember the importunate widow, the importunate friend [Luke 18:1-8; Luke 11:5-8]. Both are stories which Jesus told. Then to pray without ceasing as Paul urged. And just as there was that interpolation in Job – that triumphant cry – “I know that my Redeemer liveth,” so we too, can know that help will come, that the good will triumph. Bitter though it is today with ice and sleet, the sap will soon be rising in those bare trees down the street from us. (The Reckless Way of Love).

Day, who spent much of her life living in New York and working with the poor, understood how difficult the weather can be and the inevitable struggles that life presents. Yet, in the midst of these, she turned to the scriptures and with them was able to see the opportunities available, and yes, even when it is cold. Rather than despair taking over, we have the chance to exercise the call of Luke 18:7-8, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Let us seek to continue to be part of that faithful, knowing that we serve a God who is faithful and who hears our calls and walks with us through these difficult seasons, weather or otherwise.

Pastor Henry