From my office window tonight I see very few vehicles on the highway (US 62 & 281). Here in southwest Oklahoma we are coated in ice and expecting more. Plans have had to change. The local TV station crawls cancellation after cancellation for tonight and tomorrow across the bottom of the screen, including our church. We have bowed to the necessity of bad weather.

"Bad weather" is relative. The congregation I served in NW Iowa would not have thought of cancelling for these conditions, at least the morning service. But, we had a few evening cancellations there also. Sometimes you just have to change your plans.

Winter reminds us that we do not have total control. The world and life are bigger than us, and our desires and plans may be thwarted. Robert Burns said it best, (cont. below)

But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

Still thou are blest, compared wi' me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But och! I backward cast my e'e,
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!


(full text of poem here) from the World Burns Club site.

Winter is good for the soul, putting us in our place as humans, not gods.

(As long as we still have electricity tonight, I'll try to catch up on some blogging. Adjust, don't surrender. Build another nest.)