Snow and Psalm 51

I always like to wake up to fresh snow on the ground. Especially this winter, when it has been a rare sight. To me, there's something wonderfully hopeful about waking up to a world that has been softly covered in white, ready for whatever the day brings.

The snow this morning brings to my mind part of the psalm that we spoke together at our Ash Wednesday service last night. Our worship service began with Psalm 51, a psalm of lament, where one person calls out to God, asking for forgiveness for the ways they have sinned and fallen short. Tradition says that King David wrote this psalm after the prophet Nathan confronted the king for having one of his generals killed so he could take his wife for himself (you can read the whole story in 2 Samuel 11-12). David knows he has messed up, that there's no excuse for what he has done, so he begs for God's forgiveness for the ways he has sinned.

And when he asks God to forgive him, David says, "Wash me and I will be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7). Because that's what God's forgiveness does. It wipes the slate clean, it provides a way for us to start fresh, to choose differently. 

The season of Lent has gotten a bad reputation, that it's a church season about denying ourselves pleasures and thinking about how awful we are as humans, how often we mess up. But what if we approached the season of Lent as a season of starting over, of fresh beginnings? A time to reflect on where we have missed the mark of what God wants from us and for us, and a time to bring something new into our lives-- a new practice, a new mindset, a new way of being. What if Lent, like the view out our windows this morning, is a blank slate for a new beginning?

There is work and drudgery when the snow comes-- shoveling and plowing and snow blowing, worries about icy sidewalks and falling. And there is magic and wonder. I am often captivated by the way snow piles up on the tops of the tree branches, and I remember the uncomplicated joy of building snowmen and igloos when I was growing up. There's room for both in our experience. And there is room for both lament and wonder in the season of Lent.

What brings you wonder and joy these days? Where might you need a fresh start, a new day as white as fresh snow? Where might there need to be forgiveness in your life, either extending forgiveness or receiving it? 

May the God of snow and fresh starts be near us as we journey together through the season of Lent toward the cross and resurrection. Amen.