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Just Another Jim

Just Another Essay



Prayer of Thanksgiving and Praise

Essay Posted December 4, 2007 by James E. Nelson

I am penning these words on the first day of December. It is a beautiful morning. There are snowflakes in the air. The snow is deep enough to cover the sidewalks and roads, but the grass still shows through, so it is very much a “stippled an freckled” scene which causes me to glory in God along with Gerard Manley Hopkins and his famous poem:

Glory be to God for dappled things—

For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;

And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;

Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise Him.

[“Pied Beauty,” 1877]

But I'm not stepping out the door!!     Because I'll probably die if I do !!!!!

  [   ! ! !   ] (for good measure)

Ever since Thursday, every time I turn on the computer or television I'm greeted with lurid warnings of this terrible and deadly winter storm that is coming our way (and by the looking out the window, I would judge it has arrived).

I was foolish enough to think it was merely beautiful. I might even have been tempted to step outside and luxuriate in the wonder of it all.

But because of the television and computer warnings I know better. I'll be far safer inside.

Thank God for the National Weather Service, Homeland Security, and the TSA, who make our lives safer and far more enjoyable. If it weren’t for your ever-loving and constant oversight, I would throw all caution to the wind and wax poetic about the wonderful but little things in life (snowfall and air travel come immediately to mind). Fortunately you are there to keep me grounded and sensible. How could I possibly survive this dangerous world without you? Amen.

[ ! ! ! ! ! ]

p.s. To be fair to the Nat’l Weather Service, about an hour after I finished writing this, the snow turned to freezing rain. It’s really not a good day to be out.