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When Should We Hibernate?

I feel I must place a caveat on this post. I wrote this article on Saturday morning. Sunday morning we got a ton of snow and wind. It turned out that only a handful of people showed up for church. I am not pointing fingers at anyone.

There are animals that hibernate in the winter and sometimes there are people who hibernate as well.

So far this winter has been pretty easy on us in this region. Often first thing in the new year we have some weird weather patterns that create lots of rain and then a deep freeze. 

… We certainly know in Kingston what an ice storm is like! 

But this year we have had relatively little snow. It really has been minimal. 

Most years I drool over the snowblower ads in the flyers and whine to Lily that I need one. But I have not given them a second thought this year. 

I could be a contributing factor to the reason the snow has been almost non-existent this year -in the fall I finally bought winter tires. (You can read about that here.)

But we are not done with winter and today I’ve been reminded just what winter is like. 

We are supposed to get a snow storm today, with lots of snow, but I’m hoping the snow drops south of Lake Ontario so that we get very little.

However, the temperature today is the coldest it’s been all season and it’s way colder than I want it to be. 

It was minus 20 Celsius this morning! 

And if there was ever a time when human beings would think about hibernation as something they would consider practicing, minus 20 would be a temperature that would drive them to it. 

I played hockey this morning before I knew just how cold it was outside. We park our car in our garage so I didn’t really experience the weather until I got to the arena and got out of my car. 

Man, it was bitter!

The little snow we got the night before was squeaking as I walked across the parking lot. It was like how fresh cheese curds sound in your mouth when you chew them.

It turned out that we didn’t have too many guys for hockey this morning. I think some of the boys thought hibernation was on.

… And that’s the extent of hibernating that a human does. We eventually have to come out of the cave (house). 

We might stay indoors for some things, but there are still things we need to come out from our winter slumber for.

I know I need to pick up a few things from a store today. I wish they could be delivered, or that maybe Lily is going out and can pick them up for me.

But I think if she has things to get, she’s probably hoping I will pick them up for her when I go out. 

I will also need gas for the car soon. I could have gotten it two days ago when it was warmer but now it looks like I will have to stand at the pump when the mercury is all sucked into a ball at the bottom of the thermometer.

The real reason we can’t hibernate too long is that we have to eat. We’re not like bears that store up food for the winter. 

I need hot wings tonight for the hockey game. It doesn’t matter how cold it is, I’m going out to get them.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes we let things like weather influence our decision to do certain activities. On Sundays we gather to worship God. Letting weather determine your decision on attending, well, that just takes you down the food chain a couple of notches. Worshipping God together is important; don’t neglect it. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What things keep you from attending church? Leave your comments below.

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What To Do When Weather Is Looming

Last week we were warned of looming weather. There was supposed to be a bad storm with freezing rain coming our way. 

It was supposed to start in the early hours of Saturday morning, but when I got up for hockey at 5:30, there was no rain and it was above freezing. 

I thought after hockey I might have difficultly driving home, but there was no rain and temperatures were still in the positive numbers.

The weather stations were ramping up their warnings, like it was going to be bad and that our city was in the red zone of the storm.

Yet when I looked outside to the street, the road was drying up.

The weatherman said to make sure we had gas in our cars. I wondered where I would have to drive to if there was freezing rain, and how long this was going to last. 

Were they suggesting that I needed to get out of the area, sort of like a nuclear fallout zone?

People were filling up with gas; they were stockpiling water. 

I had already been contacted by another church who was wondering if we had a plan for our Sunday service or whether we would cancel it. 

That got me thinking because I hadn’t thought about our service at all. We always just have it. But this week we were scheduled to have a lunch after church.

After conferring with my board, we decided to only cancel the lunch and let everyone make their own weather dependent decisions about coming to church.

Nothing was actually happening when we made that decision. It was just looming, with the threat of starting at any time. We didn’t know when; we didn’t know how bad it was going to be. 

But the threat of what might have been coming had us making plans, checking the sky, stockpiling supplies … Hey, Lily, how’s our candle inventory?

I remember the ice storm of 1998. The Canadian Encyclopedia called it one of the largest natural disasters in Canadian history. McLean’s magazine called it “The Great Ice Storm.”

We didn’t cancel church back then, and it was in January. We didn’t have power or heat, but we did have a service, though only a handful of people attended. 

I just remember having my jaw wide open as we drove through the deserted streets to get to church.

That one was more severe and long-lasting than this one was predicted to be, but it also was never looming. We just woke up and faced it. 

This time it was looming and the more it loomed, the bigger the storm became in our minds. 

When something is looming, it’s not usually considered a good thing … like when the music in a scary movie hits a certain chord, you know something bad is looming and about to happen.

Or when the US, Britain and France conduct bomb strikes on Syria, you know that reactions by Russian and Syria are looming. 

The looming part gives us time to think and plan and not be caught off guard … and maybe head to the bomb shelter.

Here’s the thing: People were worried and planning on what might be an inconvenience for a few days. But Christ is returning sometime and, though it’s been looming for over 2000 years, it’s still looming. Make sure that you are benefiting from the looming of Christ’s return: think about it, plan for it, and don’t be caught off guard. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you prepare for looming situations?