To say the Blizzard of '78 was memorable is to seriously undersell it.
In early February 1978, the storm hit New England with little warning. In a matter of hours, it dumped two to four feet of snow on everything. The hurricane-force winds drove snowdrifts to unimaginable heights, completely covering automobiles. There are photos of people walking along the snow packed streets showing car roofs peeking through by their ankles. Many went over a week without power. Automobiles were abandoned; snow plows could not clear the roads until the cars were towed. Communities ran out of places to put the snow. Coastal flooding was particularly destructive. Damages, in today's dollars, mounted to over $2 Billion.
This was no mere inconvenience. It was devastating, cataclysmic.
People died.
Is it any wonder New Englanders recall it so vividly, even more than four decades later?
The entire 18 winters I lived in the Boston area, I complained; the bone-chilling cold, the icy roadways, the clothes-destroying oily slush, unplowed streets and driveways, popsicle toes ... so many problems. And then, when I voiced my very legitimate woes, someone would, without fail, say: "What, this? This is nothing. You should have been here for the Blizzard of '78."
We remember the really big moments in our lives. That’s how you would think it would be with the Israelites based on this week's Exodus passages. An enormous blazing pillar of fire at night and a massive darkness-enshrouding cloud by day that confounded their enemies. Walking across a dry seabed while writhing walls of water towered on either side. The stunning destruction of their enemies when those watery walls crashed down on them.
All by the hand of God.
You would think something like that would stick in a person's mind.
But time after time, when facing some subsequent dilemma, the children of Israel just ... drew a blank. Instead of recalling the amazing events of that long night and morning, they dissolved into complaints and rebellion whenever they felt their needs were not being met.
No matter how you dress that up, it comes down to lack of faith. No one had ever seen the kind of power God showed in rescuing the Israelites from the Egyptians. They even wrote a song about it. And, yet ...
This week’s scriptures are about remembrance, compassion, forgiveness, and faith. Read them. Meditate on them. And then the next time you're facing a challenge —even a really tough one— do what the Israelites often failed to do. Reflect for a moment and recall that there is nothing you cannot go through as long as God is with you.
A little faith goes a long way.
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A different version of this reflection appeared in September 2014 as The Blizzard of '78.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 19 (24) (September 13, 2020)
Exodus 14:19-31
Psalm 114 or Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21
Genesis 50:15-21
Psalm 103:(1-7), 8-13
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35
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Next week! September 18 is our launch date for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We will gather (virtually) at 8:00am on Zoom (link coming next week). We should be able to use any computer or smart phone with an internet connection. And, for those who might like to not be seen in the morning, you can turn off your camera and attend by voice, alone.
Can hardly wait!
Steve
P.S. Email me to let me know if you want to “attend.” I’ll alert our gatekeeper to let you in.
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