Contentment

It would appear we're finally getting a break from winter weather, even though the first day of spring is still over a month away, and we all know it's possible there might be a few last blasts of cold before warm weather sets in. Some may know, because I have mentioned it before, I enjoy winter. More accurately, I enjoy every season, including winter, but cold, dreariness is just about my favorite condition of the atmosphere, even though it hasn't always been that way.

One winter, when I was very young, perhaps two or three, I became quite sick. By the time the doctor was called, and he arrived at our house (yes, a house call, I am that old), pneumonia had set in. My father used to say, "You almost didn't make it." Every winter after that, until I was probably at least in sixth or seventh grade, I would be sick and have a horrible cough which lasted nearly the whole season. Whether or not that condition was actually related to the bout with pneumonia, my mother always claimed it was. I didn't look forward to winter because I hated that cough; there didn't seem to be anything to be done, and I usually missed school several times a year because of illness. So, I realized recently I haven't always enjoyed winter, but at some point, that changed. Maybe at some subconscious level, I'm just glad to be alive.

I am sorry for those who must work out in the cold, and I know some people need sunshine or they become depressed, but for most of us, to like winter or not is a choice. I invite you to consider the end result of always wishing for spring to arrive. Those who struggle with winter and live to be 80, for example, will have spent 20 years looking ahead, longing for something different and not enjoying the moment.

Some of my friends may be tired of my "Pollyanna attitude" regarding cold weather, but I will continue to confess my love of winter (while trying not to be too annoying). I'm not trying to scold anyone; I realize excessive snow and ice cause difficulities, and now, with the thaw, we have deep mud around our place, but I believe it is our duty, our calling as believers, to find contentment regardless of our circumstances. Though I am still learning, my desire is to be content in every area of life, because contentment is a basic tenet of all religions, and those who live a contented life, provide a powerful witness to the rest of the world.