Blizzardpalooza

Blizzard warnings are out for today and early tomorrow. I don't think I have ever experienced a snow storm that was officially considered a blizzard. We had snow early this morning and a snow plow went down the street about 8 AM but we haven't seen one since and it is now after 11 PM. Interstate 70 is closed from St. Louis to Kansas City. Everything is closed. We had ample warning and most people stocked up on everything they need. We did not get any substantial ice as they did farther south but we have probably 15-20 inches of snow -- we had thunder snow for a while. The wind is blowing so hard that the snow is drifting 3-4 feet high around the house. I haven't heard of any local power outages. Temperatures will get down to -7 over the next couple days and not reach the mid-20s until Friday. I figure I'll try to shovel the sidewalk out to the street tomorrow but leave the driveway alone until conditions improve.  That picture is from around 4 PM -- looks like a long way out to the mailbox.

The Dawn of Redeeming Grace

Silent Night is such a familiar song. I have sung Silent Night in church or elsewhere maybe 200 times or more and followed along with the words probably over 1,000 times. We even sing it in German sometimes during our Christmas Eve candle-light services. The third verse of Silent Night makes a reference to "the dawn of redeeming grace". For some reason, this year, that short phrase of five words has stuck in my consciousness through the Christmas season and, now, well into the new year.

The Dawn of Redeeming Grace... In the song I suppose it is a reference to the birth of Jesus, the Christ child, who is our one true path to salvation. The Gospel of John, in chapter 1- verse 9, describes the coming of Jesus as "The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world". A new light was coming. A dawn of a new day was coming that would change everything. There was another dawn -- Easter morning - when the diciples went to the tomb and saw that Christ, sacrificed on the cross, had defeated death and the massive burden of our sins and had risen in glory.

But that phrase represents an actual happening - the word "dawn" can be a verb as when something 'dawns' on us. The dictionary says that there are three aspects of the word "dawn" when used as a verb: 1. to become clear or enter one's consciousness or emotions; 2. to appear or develop; and 3. to become light.

We experience the Dawn of Redeeming Grace on a personal level many times during our lives. At baptism we are brought forth into the light of salvation, even though we may not realize it until much later. At our confirmation we again experience this special dawning as we comprehend what God redeeming grace actually is and means to us on a personal level. We also experience this through the bond of communion when we personally accept Jesus' body and blood in the form of the bread and wine. This is our one physical interaction with Jesus taken on the most private and personal level but also in a public way with the "body of Christ", the other members of the congregation. Through this dawning we experience a new light of God's love and forgiveness of sins.

There are many other times in our life when we have this dawning experience - maybe in the face of a newborn child or an act of kindness or personal sacrifice. We may recognize it in the face of someone we love or during a brief encounter or conversation. It may come as we appreciate the wonder of nature or recognize a special blessing. At the end of our life, we again will experience the Dawn of Redeeming Grace but this time as the first light of a new glorious and everlasting day. That day was made possible by the very first Dawn in Bethlehem and the suffering and death of Jesus followed by the glorious Dawn of Easter morning.

Thanks be to God.

Intolerable Acts

As a response to the Boston Tea Party, the British Parliament passed a number of punitive laws in 1774 that became part of what was known as the Intolerable Acts. Maybe we should borrow that phrase in the wake of the Tucson shootings and recognize that there are "intolerable acts" that demand attention and redress today in our society and daily activities. Here are some examples…


1. Using gun sight target images to designate your political opponents.

2. Inviting your supporters to fire an assault weapon as part of your political rally.

3. Broadcasting diatribes over the public airwaves that serve only to incite hatred and intolerance.

4. Construing the Second Amendment into a ridiculous excuse to carry firearms wherever you please or to own a personal arsenal of assault weapons.

5. Shouting people down or bullying opponents or others into silence.

6. Viewing those who don't agree with your point of view as expendable.

7. Persecuting legal aliens or redefining citizenship to eliminate those you don't like.

8. Imposing your own version of religion as the national standard at the expense of other religions.

9. Propagating or spreading hatred and intolerance of those whose personal and private choices differ from your own.

10. Knowingly characterizing false statements or unsupported rumors as factual news on TV or other broadcasts.

Union Pacific's Steam Train Comes to Town

Occasionally the Union Pacific Railroad brings out its majestic steam locomotives for special runs. We had a visit from one of the trains here in Jefferson City over the last couple days.

The train was making a run east from Cheyenne Wyoming making stops along the way. I was at the millbottom near the tracks when it came into town. You could hear the whistle before you could see it coming along the river bluffs. There were a number of moms and dads with their little children standing along the rails....too close by my estimation and too close for the yard supervisor who was trying to get people to step away from the tracks. That was an impossible job for one man since there were people located at several places as the train came in. The drive wheels are about five feet in diameter.

I was surprised by the lack of smoke as it was coming in but it was slowing down so it wasn't putting out a lot of effort. I suspect it will be different as it starts up and pulls out of town. The locomotive has a coal car and a couple water cars plus some antique UP passenger and postal cars.

Today the train was parked at the millbottom, the site of the old roundhouse that was demolished in the late 1970s, and was available for visitors. They had the old postal car open as a gift shop selling railroad prints and memorabilia. The locomotive had stairways set up for people to climb up and look into the cab at the controls and an engineer was there to answer questions. The crew members were obviously excited and pleased to be part of the trip and were eager to have people see the train. There was a crowd of about 100 people coming and going and lots of conversations that often started with "My dad worked for the ______ railroad and...." Lots of stories about train trips.