A few weeks ago I had to get my mom to the airport the morning after a record setting snow fall. Along the way we were helped out by strangers and were able to offer help to others. There was something about the change of the rhythm of normal life that allowed for a vulnerability that meant we were more likely to ask for help and to accept help when it was offered without a request. We were also more open both to noticing those who needed assistance and to helping when asked. Mom got into a stranger’s car with another unknown person in need, I happily handed over my cell phone to a a frantic woman at the airport, and we inserted ourselves into a conversation offering advice- not normal behavior for sure!
There is something about snow, disaster, changed circumstances that makes us kinder and more gracious. There was a sense we were all in this together, none of us able to do what we normally did. None of us able to rely on our own power and abilities fully. It was really beautiful, although also cold, frustrating, and stressful. I wonder how we might take that sense of being in it together to our daily lives. Seeing others as sharing in the amazingly hard reality of being human. I think this is what God calls us to as people of faith, showing up in love ready to journey with those around us through life. This is what our faith community tries to help us remember and I for one am grateful for this community that tries every day to live in the snow.
-Eilidh
Abandoned cars at the 205 off ramp.
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