Snow Day, or Service Day?

Well, today was a snow day, and I had a wonderful day.

Last night I got an e-mail from a guy at my church asking for people to show up the church at ten am and shovel snow. I readily agreed.

I know some people might think "Why would you waste your snow day shovelling snow when you don't have to?"

Two reasons: One, I feel like it is my responsibility as a church member to maintain the building; and two, I haven't shovelled snow in a LONG time, and I needed an excuse to get outside and do something productive.

Anyway, so I got up in the morning, showered, dressed, and went across the street to do the morning tape change. Right outside the door, I bumped into a man begging for money, and he said he was really cold and did I have any money. I said "I'll tell you what, I only have a 5 and I need to buy two T tokens, but I'll come back and give you the change." Not particularly odd--but as I crossed the street to the T station, he said "Thank's a lot, I love you man." It kinda suprised me, because it's such an unusual thing for a person to say, let alone to a stranger.

Now if you'll bear with me, I'll explain why this sticks in my mind. The scriptures teach that we should love our fellow men, and that anything you do for one of your brotheren, however humble, you are doing for God.

There is a "Scripture Scouts" song that has a lyric: "What could I give to the one who has everything, what could I give to Jesus?" Jesus doesn't need my pathetic $2.50 or anything else I have--he gave it all to me in the first place. But by living the teachings of the scriptures; "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto on of the least of these my bretheren, ye have done it to [Jesus]" (Matthew 25:40) I can show my love every day.

Ironic that it happened as I was going to spend my whole morning shoveling snow. Anyway, I took the T (another 2.50) and rode out to Harvard Square in Cambridge. As we crossed the Charles River I saw all the beauty, the frozen river covered in snow, the clear bright sky after the days of snow and wind. It was amazing. I just felt great.

Once at the church, my shoveling skillz came back to me pretty quickly, all the techniques and tricks that I had learned while living in Maine, and I had a great time.

Upon returning home, I chilled out organizing and uploading music on my computer, and then I did my homework. YEAH!

Sorry if my posts aren't as interesting as they used to be. That's life.