Because life is as it is,
It can be hard to see the good.
The good is shy.
The good is a snowflake.
While the challenging,
Well that's the snowplow.
You know what I mean.
The challenging comes barging into our lives,
Shoving us this way and that,
Scraping us raw,
Leaving us in a pile that can feel ugly and frozen hard.
There's no doubt when the challenging has barreled through.
And it often keeps us awake in the night with its loud rumble.
The good is more like a snowflake,
Falling so gently around us,
We might not even notice its presence.
It can be so very beautiful and fragile.
And there are all kinds of forces in the world that can whip the good this way and that,
Just like a snowflake in the wild and deadly winter wind.
And yet,
Whether in the midst of the storm or the stillest winter night,
There is the snowflake,
A stunning creation unlike every other snowflake ever.
If you haven't done it recently,
Look up images of snowflakes.
I just did,
And I'm at a loss for words to describe how incredibly beautiful and strong and fragile they are.
Just like every one of us.
And when we are deep in winter here in Minnesota,
Just as when we are deep in our ordinary lives,
It can be easy to ignore the beautiful things that land around us.
But there they are,
Just waiting for us to notice them and their beauty.
How we see impacts what we see.
And if we continually focus on the negative,
Gee whiz,
Weird,
Suddenly there are all kinds of snowplows barreling through our lives.
If we magnify the good,
Life doesn't turn all maple syrup and marshmallows sticky sweet and cushy.
No,
If we magnify the good,
It means we practice bringing our attention to the beautiful.
Even in the midst of what might otherwise feel terrible.
The good.
It can be as simple as a breath or a touch,
Or the light coming in a window,
Or some snow dancing in the streetlight.
The good is always there,
Ready for us to see it.
The beautiful,
The moving,
The absolutely unique things that feed the deepest parts of our hungry beings.
Those things that bring us meaning,
They are always there.
They really are.
We just have to look for them.
And look for them with eyes that magnify the good.
And when we do that,
We can see that even snowplows are beautiful.
Sometimes they are driven by others.
Those who are brave and committed souls who willingly head into our worst storms to create openings for our lives to flow forward again.
Because there we are,
Gripping the wheel of our own life,
Feeling trapped,
Doing our best just to survive.
And sometimes we're the ones who climb up into the driver's seat of the snowplow.
We're the ones who take the powerful thing by the wheel and do the work to clear away what is burying us.
Sometimes the work is to be the snowplow.
Sometimes the work is to step out of the busy din of our lives and into the quiet and the beautiful.
To be silent and let the good fall gently around us.
Sometimes the work is to stand.
Head lifted up.
Mouth open in wonder.
As we live and breathe.
And do our best to live light.
