It's hard to strangely warm a heart when it's so cold . . .

It is really cold tonight and is getting colder quickly. In the cold night air out on my mountain (some would call it a hill) side the navy velvet drape of the sky cannot contain the light of the Creator as it explodes through tiny pinpoints. I still exhale through pursed lips just to see my breath in the frigid air as I did in childhood. I like the cold. It makes me feel alive.

But one of the reasons I like the cold is because I can get warm. I like to turn the heat down and pile on the blankets. There is no feeling like coming in from the cold into the warmth of a fire in the fireplace. A hot cup of coffee is even better when warming cold hands. An arms-wide-open-wrap around hug smothers the chill while it warms the body and the soul.

But without the hope of warmth the cold is just cold. It is harsh. It is cruel. In that kind of cold, the kind that seems endless, survival is ultimate. Looking for beauty or silly notions of childhood, or the comforts of home or companionship are pointless.

There are lots of folks out in the cold tonight, as they are every night. They probably do not share my romantic notions of the arctic air that has descended upon us. They are probably worried about survival, praying for the sunlight of morning, if they still have enough hope to pray, or still believe in prayer at all.

And there are those that suffer in a different kind of coldness. It too seems endless, without hope of warmth. It too robs the soul of the ability to see beauty, or find joy in memories, companionship, or even home. It is a coldness of the soul, a depression of the spirit.

This post has certainly taken a downer tone. Sorry about that. Besides, guilt does no one any good. It is usually no more than a cheap penance we impose on ourselves, so that we have suffered appropriately for our failure to live up to our own expectations. But that is the only purpose it serves, our self-prescribed absolution.

The only thing to do is to share the warmth, with those who may be stuck out in the cold nights of winter, or with those who may be stuck in the cold dark nights of the soul. Guilt is easier. You can do that at home alone without dealing with anyone but yourself. But to share the warmth it will be necessary to take a walk into the cold, out beyond the safety of the driveway, and bring folks in from the cold, folks who may have been cold so long that they can't afford to hope for warmth anymore. So it may not be easy.

But maybe you can help someone lift their eyes and see the lights of the Creator.

And the warmth will be even better.

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