It's not only the cold, ice and snow that bother us about winter. It also means less activity, less productivity, less control over schedules, confinement and higher utility bills. On Wednesday I visited with a friend who has a fantastic view property. Standing there looking at a real live Currier and Ives winter on the biggest panoramic screen ever made, she said, "It's not pretty to me anymore. The more I stay in the house, the less I want to go out." No doubt about it - cabin fever.
Some things are impossible in winter. Paul asked Timothy to visit before winter, when travel would become impossible (II Timothy 4:21). The Bible talks about settling in for the winter (Titus 3:13), spending the winter with friends (I Corinthians 16:6), plans interrupted by the winter (Acts 28:11), securing oneself in a winter harbor (Acts 27:12) and sitting by a fire in winter quarters (Jeremiah 36:22). People have always treated winter with special respect.
So, how do you keep the world going when it's frozen solid? Gloria (Mrs. Marple) says we ought to take a lesson from the animals: they hibernate, or at least have the good sense to "lay low" in the bitter winter. Perhaps we might think in terms of "getting through" winter, rather than overpowering it, fighting it, or beating it. When we take a second look at how Biblical Folk managed winter, the word would be accommodate it not overpower it!
There are some things we can do to help. Take a lesson from the animals - lay, low, burrow in a little deeper. You might, also, adjust your expectations to reality -- this is not summer; there are a lot of things you just won't be able to do. Our greatest anxieties come not so much from "what things are: but from what we think they "should be." Psychologist Dr. Roger Bauer urges folks to talk to each other. Complain about the weather if you feel the need! A good way to stay connected with friends and neighbors in this weather is to use the phone or check-in on Facebook. Gloria and I just cross the road for a cup of coffee with our good friend Theodora Sickler. Soon we'll all be saying, "for now the winter is past" (Song of Solomon 2:11); then, we'll all meet on the town green and collect our "sourdough" badges.