So I was getting Carson dressed on Thursday morning, the day we were heading for our ski trip. It was yet another day of scrounging around the house for clean cold weather clothes, something it feels like we have had to find more of than any other winter since our first here in Daytona Beach.
Carson looked over at me and started to complain: “Daddy, is it ever going to be hot again?” I chuckled to myself, because I remember thinking that same thing when I lived in Chicago, and the winter really did seem like it would never end, and here was Carson, saying the same thing, but in Daytona Beach.
Two thoughts hit me after my chuckle. First, pain is always relative. From my perspective, I was thinking, “This is not cold, Carson. You will see cold tomorrow when you wake up.” But from his perspective, the cold was bearing down on him, keeping him from wearing what he wanted, and playing outside unfettered by jackets and such. And for him, the question was real.
We often fall victim to the thought that our suffering is much worse than others around, and that they cannot possibly understand our plight, or to the thought that others have nothing to complain about, that their suffering is really not that bad. But the truth is that whether the winter is 5 degrees or 50 degrees, if a person thinks and feels and perceives that it is winter, it is winter for them, and they need compassion for what they are going through.
The second thought I had was that all of us have the same kind of thoughts in our Spirit that Carson had with the weather. Our question is: “God, is my suffering ever going to end?” And, just like the winter ends when the temperature warms up and we decide to stop wearing winter clothes, our spiritual winters end with a combination of circumstances changing (weather) and our decision to see our life in a different light, God’s light (changing to summer clothes).
So, just as the answer to Carson’s question is: “Yes, it will be hot again,” our answer to whether our spiritual winters will end is, “Yes, we will feel alive again spiritually.” I hope that worship will be a blessing to you this morning.
Our family misses you, and we look forward to seeing you again next Sunday.
Blessings, Sonny