Brrrrr It’s Cold!

I’m sitting at the dinning room table looking out the window on one of those bitterly cold northeast days. It’s snowing lightly and the wind is blowing. Although I’d like to go out with the dog for a walk, I’m thinking that it isn’t a good idea. They say that the wind chill factor is a bombing -15 below zero. It’s not my welfare I’m concerned about, but rather the dog. Seeing that I looked like a man with a lot of energy with no place to spend it, my wife graciously produced a honey-do-list, which further deterred the idea of a long walk. While contemplating where to start on my wife’s list I couldn’t help notice the birds at the feeder. Undeterred by the weather, the birds were busy gathering their food. Even the resident squirrel showed up to get his share. Inside the house the cat and dog were watching the activity outside with much desire. Fortunately there is a large sliding glass door that separates everyone from trouble. All of this activity and nobody seems to be concerned about the cold temperature outside except me, and I’m beginning to wonder what I’m so concerned about too. It seems that we all allow external influences to affect our choices. For example we look at the long range forecast to determine what we’re going to do next weekend. We listen to the news, be it the weather or not, and make many choices as to how we’re going to live. Often the reason people lock their doors is not because they’ve ever experienced anything but they’ve heard on the news that there are bad people out there that are looking for unlocked homes to break in to. It’s not surprising that people don’t trust others anymore. When I was a kid we didn’t have much news to influence us. We got up and did what needed to be done without concern of what the weather was going to be and if a boogieman showed up we dealt with it and moved on. Jesus said to focus on the Kingdom of God and don’t worry about all the other stuff, (Mt 6:33). Sounds like good advice in light of the world’s problems. Think about it.