Lenten Devotion Day Two Feb 23, 2023

The Good Courage devotion for today invited us to notice the gifts of nature, and to consider what they may tell us about the Creator.

I am about 12 hours later than I’d planned, in posting this today, because nature gave us an ice storm last night, and a power outage. It also gave us a significantly quieter, and simpler day.

We are even more grateful this evening, now that power has been restored, that most days we don’t have to think about whether the house is getting too cold, or how will we cook. We are very comfortable, and aware that many are not.

I spent time in the yard this morning, piling broken branches, and sawing at tree limbs. Our neighbour has a very tall white birch that split in several places, and some of it landed on the roof of our shed. It’s a beautiful tree, and it was sad to see it harmed.

It was also remarkable to see how far the tree limbs are able to flex under the weight of the ice. As the day warmed, and the ice melted, I watched the branches recover some of their former stance.

There are, of course, parts of the tree that did not survive. We have pieces of white birch on our back lawn, that will be cut down into generous lengths for Christmas decorations we are already planning for next winter.