My Frozen Soul and My Lenten Journey

This whole winter it feels as if I have been stalled. In our small town, there is a seemingly never series of water main breaks, which means we can't use our tap water. A pipe burst under the river, which meant the air was filled with the smell of gas. There have been blackout after blackout in many neighborhoods because of our ailing electrical system. And despite all the efforts of so many, our public schools appear to be breaking and our elected officials indifferent. One of our sons is struggling in school. And the older child is still waiting to hear back from the many colleges to which he has applied. No word from any of them yet. Oh and then there is the snow, inch after inch of snow, day after day, delaying the start of so many school days. It feels as if my family will never unfreeze, never move forward from our permafrosted positions.


And in the midst of all this,  Lent is coming. I do not remember a time I looked forward to embarking on my Lenten journey so much.  I was excited to see the purple sheet snuck into the bulletin this Sunday. The Church calendar is offering me a chance to move forward, or to at least to understand that beneath the frozen ground, life is happening.


The Canadian Journal of Soil Science recently published a series of papers about what happens under frozen ground. The headline? Life Goes on Under the Snow

It is hard to imagine this right now. I do not feel this. But I believe it.  At the end of our journeying, there will be Alleluias.