Reflections on Snow and Grace
“I do not at all understand the mystery of grace–only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.” — Anne Lamott
This past weekend I had the privilege of going to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, to speak once again at the annual Wilderness Wildlife Week. This is an outstanding event held each January and if you are not familiar with it I’d encourage you to check it out sometime. While I was in Pigeon Forge I was able to drive into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park a couple of times to photograph. The fact that the park had received several inches of snow prior to my arrival made this an extra special adventure.
I love being able to get out in the woods after it has snowed, especially before a lot of other people get there and create a bunch of tracks. A snowy landscape is so beautiful and pristine. It is absolutely amazing how a heavy snow can transform a scene. Things that might have looked ugly or unattractive before become stunning in appearance. I thought about this yesterday as I was photographing in the Elkmont region of the park. I remembered, as I usually do when it snows, the Bible’s wonderful promise, “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18) This led me to think further on God’s grace. There are so many things about snow that remind me of His grace.
On U2’s album “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” there is a song called “Grace.” In the final line of this song Bono sings, “Grace makes beauty out of ugly things.” God’s grace, like snow, makes beauty out of ugly things. I know that for a fact. I’ve seen it in my own life and I’ve seen it in the lives of countless others. Like gently falling snow God’s grace covers all those who are open to receiving it. As it blankets us we find ourselves changed. We look different. We feel different. We are different. Through God’s grace our sins are “covered.” What was dirty is made clean. What was ugly is made beautiful.
Today I find myself very grateful for snow and for God’s amazing grace. I hope you do too.
–Chuck
(I took both of these pictures yesterday in the Elkmont area of the Great Smoky Mountains N.P.)