Yesterday the snow they promised would begin at 4am began falling shortly before 11. The 7" to 9" of snow we were supposed to get turned out to he less than four. Yet, if the 7", 9", or even 10" had come we were ready. We had emptied the hardware store of it's shovels and de-icers, plundered the supermarket of its milk, bread and toilet paper, and had shut ourselves in to wait for Balto to get through with the penicillin (he did), and for Robert Falcon Scott to make it back to base camp (he did not).

We get two or three snows a year. Rarely are we snowed in for more than 24 hours. And yet, the mere mention of the possibility of more than a dusting sends us all to the grocery store to fight over the last gallon of 2% like it was a wedding dress in Filene's basement. I'm sure the folks in International Falls, MN (not to mention the folks in Point Barrow, AK) get a real chuckle out of us. It is not just snow that sends us into a panic. I still have sand bags by my back door, left over from the threat of hurricane Guy (pronounced Gee, like a French actor, or hairdresser). Guy turned out to he a blowhard drizzler. We were all prepared for him just the same.

I'm not complaining. I am quite pleased with the temperate climes of northern Virginia. I would like a third season sometimes, in addition to the 6 months of summer and 6 months of winter we get. I'm just intrigued by our panic at the smallest chance of extreme weather.

This is even more intriguing to me in view of the way we so readily and easily take in stride the very real threats we pose to ourselves. Aggressive drivers, dimly lit parking lots, the highest violent crime rates in the world, the threat of domestic terrorism, airborne diseases, not to mention the carcinogen drenched environment make quite a list- yet we walk out our doors every morning, after a jolt of caffeine, happy to face the day.

I see a troubling pathology at work here. It is not that we have a healthy fear of natural forces, it is that we are so oblivious to the danger we ourselves have created. We are so afraid of the mess nature can possibly make of things, yet are snow-blind to the bigger messes we create, and are actually in. We really are that guy Jesus says we are in Matthew 7.1ff who is not aware he has a fence post sticking out of his eye socket, but is perturbed when his neighbor gets a speck of dust in his eye.

Of course the lasting damage we do to ourselves, we do through sin. It was sin Jesus was talking about m Matthew 7, and it is sin we least want to take responsibility for. We have become so sophisticated, so creative at the rationalization, the half-apology, the empty mea culpa, that we rarely have to take personal responsibility for anything. For the time being, anyway. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 7 that there will be judgment - certain and inescapable judgment. He also tells us we can survive this, and an other storm if we "hear" and "do" the things he tells us to.

In E.B. White's book The Second Tree From the Corner (1954) he has a piece titled "Air Raid Drill" which is about a city wide drill New York had that year to prepare for an atomic bomb attack. As he walked down from the 1st to the 10th floor of his building, he noticed that there was no 13th floor. Humanity had advanced far enough to build an atomic bomb, but not enough to stop avoiding the number 13. He also noticed how nonchalant everyone was about a drill to prepare for an atomic bomb attack. He noticed that the fifteen minutes of easy camaraderie they enjoyed was itself a blessing, and that A-bomb drills might not be such a bad thing if for no other reason than that one had the chance to "look into the eyes of the next man."

15 minutes would be even better spent looking into our own eyes, into God's word, and being honest about what we find.