Running From Snowballs in Arizona

The first and only time I saw a significant amount of snow, I had to be shown how to make a snowball. I had to start with something small, something that fit inside of my hand. I then had to roll it around, letting the snow on the ground become part of the snowball. I was surprised at how big it started getting, and eventually it was big enough to become the bottom of a snowman.

I've been pretty stressed lately. My fiance, who is crazy smart when it comes to how people think, told me I was letting things snowball into something I couldn't control. I got the image of one of those big cartoon snowballs that comes careening down a mountain to bury someone. Then I remembered that snowman, and how that big bottom of the snowman started out as something the size of my hand.

I don't think I'm the only person dealing with snowballs these days. There is a lot of uncertainty out there, a lot of unemployment and uncertain futures and self-doubt. We want to be self-sufficient, to say we're just fine, that we can deal with this snowball that started out as something the size of our hand, something we just couldn't let go of.

Except that now, it's bigger than us and threatening to bury us.

In the Psalms, I could hear David dealing with his own snowballs, and constantly reminding himself that God would be his help, that God was bigger than the biggest snowball David could create. I think he did this as much for his own benefit as for the benefit of whoever may have read and sung his songs.

Music is cathartic that way... the melody and harmony and dissonance, they come together to say what words alone couldn't. I wish I could hear the music that went with David's Psalms. I think that music would resonate with all of us who are busy running from snowballs.

As for me, I sometimes feel like I've already been run over by the snowball. I suppose it's time for me and Jesus to grab a couple of shovels, because ultimately, if you are trapped underneath a crapload of snow, sitting and moping won't really help you much. Besides, all that a snowball consists of is a bunch of microscopic flakes of snow, just like most of our own "snowballs" consist of a bunch of little crap that looks much less cool that snowflakes.