So we did wake to about three inches of snow yesterday and a bit more fell before things started to warm up and the snow turned to rain later in the day. September 11 is a bit early for the first snowfall of the autumn, but snow in the autumn around here doesn’t mean that we are through with pleasant weather. The forecast is for a high in the mid 50’s today which will melt off the remaining snow and we should see temperatures in the sixties over the weekend.

Quite a few people were out taking pictures of the snow and sending them to relatives who live in places where it didn’t snow. I did the same, took a couple of snaps with my phone to send to my grandson.

But I wasn’t thrown by the weather. Here is the deal: the weather forecasts have been very accurate lately. Even back to last October’s record-setting blizzard, the weather we experienced has been pretty much what the forecasters have predicted. I’m sure that part of the story is that there are much more sophisticated prediction tools. Things like doppler radar allow better images of clouds and their movement. And computer programs are becoming much more sophisticated at handling all of the complex variables of weather patterns.

I don’t want to go back to the days of inaccurate weather prediction. I’m sure that accurate weather forecasts help to save lives and decrease discomfort. But there is a little loss in the simple fact that the weather is not as able to surprise us as was once the case. Part of the joy of living in a place with dramatic changes in season is the joy of surprise. The hills are particularly challenging for weather forecasters and there are huge variations in weather depending on altitude and location within the hills. Those of us who live here like it that way. We love to compare with our friends and to talk about how our weather is never boring.


I had a very respected teacher who had no time for “small talk.” He wasn’t interested in the kind of chit chat that normally is a part of our conversation. He was focused on issues that seemed to him to be more important. He preferred to get right to the depth in a conversation. His classes always began with significant information. You had to be focused at the beginning in order to understand what was going on. His approach was interpreted by many of the students as being a bit gruff. They found it hard to connect with the person. I had a different reaction. I found it exciting. I loved the intensity and I found figuring out what he wanted and how his mind worked to be a challenge. This same teacher often used poetic language and could be very sparse in his writing. He only used adjectives on purpose, avoiding the wordiness that characterizes much of theological writing and speaking. I never fully adjusted to his way of writing or speaking - at least not in my own use of language. I did, however, learn to read and discover deep meaning in the things that he wrote.

Now, many years later, I find that the small talk isn’t so small. The things that he considered to be unimportant - the weather, the drama of personal lives, the ups and downs of relationships - have turned out to be the things that connect me to other people. I think that part of the job of every pastor is to learn to look at the world through the eyes of the people who are served.

Right after graduating from seminary, as a young pastor in rural North Dakota, I found myself really engaged with the people in the parish and with their lives. I have often said that having grown up around a farm machinery dealership and not far from a family farm was as important in my education as the rigors of academic theological education. My parishioners were impressed with a pastor who knew how to drive a tractor and could board a combine in the field. They liked the fact that I changed my own oil and wasn’t thrown by a flat tire. I supplemented our family income by driving a school bus and the bus operator was impressed that I could back a bus into the shop without hitting anything.

What I know is that both sides of the equation are important for a pastor. You have to know the theological, biblical and historical information. You have to be a capable academic and able to engage in serious and meaningful research. You have to be able to read the complex and sometimes specialized language of scholars and serious students of the Bible. Then you have to be able to connect all of that with the real and everyday lives of the people you serve. That connection only comes when you take time to listen and really engage in those lives.

Here in the hills and out on the plains the weather is a big part of the everyday lives of real people. Ignoring it can be dangerous. We get weather conditions that make travel impossible. Cold and wet can turn fatal if you aren’t properly prepared.

An early fall blizzard is a good reminder that it is time to put the sleeping bags back into the trunk of the car and make sure that the survival equipment isn’t too far away. It’s time to put up the storm windows and put away the window air conditioners. It isn’t a bad idea to check out the pantry and make sure that there is a stock of a few staple items that will serve for preparing meals when a trip to the grocery store is impractical.

What is more, the snow was really beautiful. It was worth a picture. and recognizing the beauty as a gift of God is part of what being a person of faith is all about.

There probably isn’t a sermon in an early snowfall, but there certainly is a blog post.

Copyright © 2014 by Ted Huffman. I wrote this. If you want to copy it, please ask for permission. There is a contact me button at the bottom of this page. If you want to share my blog a friend, please direct your friend to my web site.