Tag: cold

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

He’s the God of cold, too

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Annie Nyle on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Psalm 147.

When I think of God’s creation, especially the Garden of Eden, I imagine of a sunny day, with spring-like temperatures, and a gentle breeze. After all, the first man and woman were naked, so it would have been a nice, warm, comfortable place.

It turns out that the Creator is the God of cold, too.

He gives snow like wool;
    he scatters frost like ashes.
He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
    who can stand before his cold?
He sends out his word, and melts them;
    he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. (Psalm 147:16-18)

I love these unlikely pairings. Snow covers the ground like a warm blanket. Frost blows through the air like ashes from a fire, settling on tree limbs and rooftops. Ice crystals resemble cookie crumbs falling after a bite. God’s word, which created the wintry weather also melts it. He thaws out a frozen world.

At times, God is a consuming fire. When his people disobey, his anger burns. God sends down fire to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and to consume Elijah’s sacrifice on Mt. Carmel. God leads his people through the wilderness as a pillar of fire. Spirit comes down on the apostles like tongues of fire on Pentecost. When John sees Jesus in Revelation, “His eyes were like a flame of fire” (Rev. 1:14). In heaven, God is surrounded by seraphim, fiery creatures who never stop repeating, “Holy, holy, holy!”

I think it’s cool that he’s the God of cold, too!

Posted in Christmas, memories

A cold, memorable Christmas

Posted on by William Douthwaite
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, IN

At Christmas supper last night, we posed the question, “What was your most memorable Christmas?” That was a toughie. Many Christmas memories blend together in my mind.

Twenty four hours later, I’ve zeroed in on 1983 as my most memorable Christmas.

This was the first year I didn’t go home for Christmas. I was in the middle of my second year of seminary education in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I decided to stay there to play trumpet for Christmas Eve services at historic downtown St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, and then drive to my fiancée’s home in Columbus on Christmas Day.

But it was cold. Really cold. 30 below zero cold. Almost all the other churches in the city cancelled their worship services that night. I was driving a 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit diesel. Diesel fuel has a problem with sub-zero temps and the sad, slow rowl-rowl-rowl of the starter let me know my car wasn’t going anywhere that night. A well-meaning friend suggested, “Just have them inject some ether. That’s how they start up the big rigs.” Since I wasn’t a big rig parked at a truck stop, I called around and got a ride to and from church that Christmas Eve.

The next morning, some friends of my fiancée’s family were headed to Columbus, and gave me a ride to join the family for Christmas Day. From there were were supposed to drive to Philadelphia to spin time with my family. My Father-in-law let us use his pickup truck for the trip. It had dual twenty-five gallon gas tanks to quench its thirst for fuel and got us there and back safely.

On this trip, my future wife got to meet my parents, Labrador Retriever, and former coworkers from Bell Labs.

By the time I got back to Fort Wayne, the temperatures had moderated, and my car started right up. A memorable Christmas in the books.

Posted in Life

Baby it’s cold outside?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

People begin to act really strange when it gets cold in Florida. We are so used to temperate weather that any night below 40 throws us for a loop.

We scramble for coats, blankets, sweaters, whatever to keep us warm. We lament the cold, cold, cold, cold temperatures. The thing is, we all moved here from up north. At least most of us did. Where temps were in the single digits in the winter. Where we went out and shoveled snow in single digit temperatures. Where winter lasted months, not days.

I remember running when it was 20 below zero. I think I did it more to prove that I could. Tights and nylon running pants. T-shirt, turtle neck, and nylon running top. Hat, two pairs of gloves, and a scarf over my face. Plastic two pairs of sock. Four or five miles in Des Moines, IA. Actually, it wasn’t so bad. Once the icicles formed on my mustache and I was under way, it was pretty cool to be out in pretty cool temperatures. Crunch snow, bitter air — I felt alive. A survivor. Not a victim of the weather, but someone who could overcome and survive the worst conditions.

So 30 degrees in FL? Piece of cake.