snowblind

14 inches of snow... at least that is what i measured outside my front door. it's the most snow we've had around here in quite some time. often, after a blistering snowstorm, the cold arctic airs blows in and it's almost as if it's too cold to snow. today, the cold, dry air was bitter... single digit temperatures. the cloudless sky left us with nothing but frigid air and a bright sun magnified by the pure, white snow covering the ground.

snow blindness. the magnificent sun shines down upon a natural, earth-covered reflector blanket of snow. it can make your eyes do funky things... it can take several minutes for your eyes to adjust to the brightness and then back to any other alternative lighting.

the sun, such a beautiful object that provides so much for the inhabitants of this land - (light + warmth, nourishment, etc.) when mixed with white, pure snow becomes sort of toxic or damaging to the eyes. shielding or hiding the eyes is the only hope for relief.

sin is most often presented to us in bright + colorful ways; as a seemingly productive entity for our lives. we look at it with deceptive knowledge as if it will provide for us some sort of nourishment that will enhance our state of being. but when we surround ourselves with sin we struggle to differentiate between good + bad; light + dark; healthy + destructive. often, the extent of pain and destruction as a result of our sinful indulgence can not be noticed until later. much the same, symptoms of snow blindness don't always present themselves right away.

sin causes a sense of snow blindness. we can no longer see the sun... we can no longer see the Son.

the angel of light masks and morphs into many things... those things are nothing short of deceptive. if we take our eyes off of Jesus for even one second - we open ourselves up to a justification of actions that are not associated with Christ. we begin to look at an alternative 'light' that burns our retinas. that prolonged exposure to such a false light makes it more difficult to see the true light of Christ shining on the right path to righteousness.

there is no new revelation here. just a dangerous observation. as i hid my eyes from the extreme bright of sun + snow today, i couldn't help think about the spiritual side of being snow blind. the hard part - after giving in to temptation and being blinded by the damaging, deceptive light of sin - is crawling back into the spotlight that Christ has shown for us... even as his path is again revealed to us - our sin can be nothing short of exposed... the false light leads (ironically) to darkness - and that darkness can not stay hidden once we return to the all-encompassing light of Christ.

as lent approaches, may we all humbly walk back into the safe, warm, nurturing light of Jesus Christ. may we acknowledge defeat - and embrace victory... may we fail forward... into the arms of Jesus. His light takes away the jaundice of our sin. Fix your eyes on Him.



snow blindness

snowblind - 77's

angel of light - petra