I happen to like a midwestern winter: cold, barren, dark, and windy. I enjoy bundling up and walking on winter days, with or without snow. The introvert in me looks forward to spending those dark evenings with books, knitting projects, writing projects, cooking, and pots of tea. Something in me connects to the sacred in winter—because I believe that each season is sacred in its own way.
But I know that many people struggle to find anything to love during this season. They don’t do well in the cold, or they tend toward depression for lack of natural light. In the same way I dread the heavy humidity and inescapable heat of summer, others want to find an escape route from winter. If God is present always, we will find the divine even in this cold season.
1. Use the opportunity for deeper prayer.
When the season changes to a time of year that feels ill-suited, it’s good to recognize that we are grieving a loss. The gentle summer air is gone; the flowers are gone; many of the outdoor sights and sounds of people are gone. Perhaps we can use this time to pray over other losses. As I grieve the daylight that no longer surrounds me on the way to and from work, I can pray something like, “Lord, I know this sadness is attached to other, deeper, causes of sadness. Help me identify them and sit with them here and let you comfort me.”
2. Explore other sources of joy.
You really can’t savor a robust pot of chili in July—not the way you can savor it in January. During the winter, we have a different set of joys and comforts, so let’s dive right into them! Read to your kids or your spouse. Collect memories into scrapbooks, something that’s not as attractive when the weather invites you to the beach or backyard. Don’t think of winter activities as default options you’re left with but as entirely different yet wonderful pleasures.
3. Identify winter-worthy ways to serve.
If my needs shift in the winter, then it’s likely that some of the people I know face the same struggles. Are these long, dark months prime time for visiting others and filling the time with conversation or a feel-good movie? If I dread being cold, might that remind me to buy gloves and heavy socks to donate to organizations that supply people in need? Would February be a good month for a three-week Bible study in small groups—the opportunity to gather in homes or at the church and focus on the Light of the World?
Winter may not be your first choice as a season. Yet it carries its specific gifts and purposes. May you enjoy them in the weeks to come.
A beautiful article on the merits of winter. I’ve always felt that the season has its own unique beauty as we watch its transformation from beautiful colour of the flowers and luscious green of the grass and hedgerows. It’s a time to reflect on the time past and slow down and be present to God in the comfort of the indoors. ‘Be still and know……allow us to calm the busy mind and also let the body take a break from the pressing demands of work in the garden or the outside of the house. Perhaps we are invited to let the ’ outside’ care for itself, while we connect again to our creator in the quiet, darker evenings and let him work on being still in the knowledge that we are eternally cared for.
Winter lets us embrace a quiet joy of being alive; a time to pray in and breathe more slowly.
Dear Vinita – Your words & the insightful replies are spiritual bread for the journey. Tending to my flock of backyard bird varieties in the winter connects me to God deep in my soul. God is in their astonishing beauty that is more easily seen on bare branches. God is in their clear chirps & trills calling to me, “I’m here. Pause. Look. Listen.” God is in theIt speedy nourishment from the bird feeder showing me how to nibble on God’s spiritual bread all day. Peaceful winter.
Your take on winter was perfect for me when I awoke in the pitch black and stumbled to my tea pot and computer. A glaze of sparkly frost on my trash cans, and air I could see. God is so awesome, even in winter.
Winter is such a long season! I love Spring!!!
Vinita, I miss your contemplations with on classical paintings!
I have always loved winter. My favorite season. God in His wisdom,sent me to live most of my life, in the desert. It is now, that I am in my 70ies, that I am beginning to see His plan for me.
Vinita, you are a kindred spirit! I love all the seasons for the opportunities they bring to find God in creation and serve him…but fall and winter are my favorites…just last night as we were shoveling the perfect snow..it gave opportunity for service and fellowship with our neighbors…
Well said. I think people unknowingly fall victim to marketing ideals. They feel shortchanged when their own experience doesn’t reflect what they see on TV & in magazines.
In a similar way to your theme, I am irked when weather broadcasters glumly anticipate precipitation — in any season. I spent 2 years in a place where it rained only once, for a few minutes. That was the most glorious phenomenon I’d ever seen. To this day, I rejoice in any water coming from the sky, even this year, which is setting new rainfall records in Maryland!
Yes: find God in all things, in all weather – even in stifling summer humidity.
You make a good point, Nate, about how marketing messes us up–and even language used by weather forecasters does not help. We are meant to find the grace in every situation and to always look for the joy. Thanks for posting.
I prefer cold, dark, cloudy days as opposed to summer. It helps me go inward and connect to God more easily. So this time of year is perfect for me. It’s during the summer months that I need to finds ways to connect to God.
Thanks for a new perspective. I am addicted to spring and summer, which is easy to do in California where I live. Sunshine and blue skys and flowers all year round make it easy to brush grieving under the carpet.
Winter calls us to gather close for warmth and sharing. Its light is more oblique and the shadows are longer during the noon. Yet, we must always realize our movement towards the newest of Spring from the coldness of the snow covered season.