Whiter than snow ...

Since we've got a lot of it around here, I thought about making some notes to myself about snow. "Whiter than snow" is a Christian (um ... simile ...no, wait ... metaphor ... um ...) figure of speech for Jesus taking away our sins.

For instance, the old hymn "Jesus Paid It All" includes the lines,

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Snow is rare in Israel and called refreshing. We traveled there in 1994 and our tour guide marveled that we could see Mount Hermon several mornings in a row from Tiberias. Usually the mountain is hidden by clouds, he said. Melting snow from Mount Hermon feeds the Jordan river. Against the hazy horizon, the white mountain top was beautiful and evoked another thrill that we were actually in Israel.

Here, snow is more mundane. But it does serve some wonderful purposes.

It covers up all the debris in the yard that I won't have to see for weeks. Dog-chewed tennis shoes, perhaps a misplaced Frisbee, weeds, brown grass, etc.

The snowpack makes a sunny winter day dazzling. Even the shadows are blue instead of dark.

Snow covers and protects crops that lie dormant over the winter including next summer's hay and wheat. When it melts, it recharges the soil moisture (this is a really good thing for crops) and adds to the Great Lakes, from whence much of our weather cometh.

When the wind sculpts in along the fence rows, it's easy to forget fish-tailing down the road and dodging potholes. It delights small, medium, large and overgrown children who are glad to have a day off school. Finally, how can we go sledding without snow?

One surprise is that the snow brightens dark winter nights, throwing a soft glow back into the black sky.

I'm reaching for a spiritual application here and ... wonder if snow can be a metaphor for purity and salvation. Sins covered like the kids' trail of debris in the yard; spirits refreshed and recharged; darkness brightened. I think I'll have to work on that last bit, but, for Jesus to make us whiter than snow is pretty amazing.