Pax Carolina

As I write this devotional thought it is both snowing and sleeting outside my house in suburban Columbia where I live. I am home alone with our pup Lucy. My wife is working at a local hospital and my two middle kids are away at college in Spartanburg and Conway, and our high school senior daughter is at some friends probably eating oatmeal and having hot chocolate. Our oldest and newly married daughter is probably making sure her new Boykin Sage is having fun in the snow. The Winter Storm Pax is barreling through South Carolina bringing ice, sleet, rain, and snow. It just depends where you are located and the temperatures which are hovering around that mythical 32 degree mark where sleet changes to snow and driving becomes flat out dangerous. My good colleague chaplains are covering the hospital at this time. I had my turn during the last storm and my turn will come again tomorrow when I head back to work. For me it is ironic that the winter storm is called Pax. That word is from the Latin and it literally means “Peace.” Snow can be peaceful to watch fall form the sky but watching ice and sleet accumulate on the roads and power lines is anything but peaceful. Yet, having good friends and family gives me peace. Knowing God’s love and presence also gives me a great amount of peace. I also have peaceful thoughts and good thoughts about the hard working power and electric men and women who will be working overtime to make sure our homes have electricity so we can stay in contact via text messages, emails and phone calls. Already this morning I have called and texted family and friends to check on them and let them know I am thinking of them. On top of this snow event some people even have family members in the hospital. It is an extra burden and difficult time and I am praying for them too. Thankfully our hospital staff is very dedicated and committed to taking care of patients as a first priority. It is good to be part of something so meaningful. The health care industry and clinicians work through ice storms and hurricanes. They are like the postal persons who deliver mail--they just get the job done. So, as Winter Storm Pax traverses the Palmetto State be sure to call your family and friends and to say a prayer for those who are hospitalized during such trying weather emergencies. Times like this help us to draw closer to care even more for those whom we love. Most of all, I know that God is the greatest source of peace and that is something available to us through prayers, sacred scriptures and even things like a good meal and an encouraging conversation. Prayer: Dear God, may you be the Peace that passes all understanding amidst my medical challenges and the other challenges of life like weather emergencies and unexpected hospital admissions. Thank you for your peace and may I share it today with those who need it--me included.