Biblical Snowstorm

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Stranded in a snowstorm might change your attitude and being dumped with 5 to 7 feet of snow can be very humbling. Some regions like Cowesville received 88 inches of snow that’s over 7 feet. In Bethany, we received over five feet. Last Sunday afternoon, I was called out of town to respond to an accident that resulted in the death of a truck diver. While in Syracuse on Monday, I called the fire chief in Bethany to make sure Susan would be safe. Again on Tuesday in Syracuse, I learned that the first wave of the snowstorm produced over three feet of snow in our area and the roads in Genesee County were closed. I had called our parish deacon and asked him to initiate our parish phone tree to make sure everyone was safe. On Wednesday, back in Rochester, I learned that second wave of he snowstorm was headed for the same towns so I made it back to Bethany on Wednesday night. On Thursday, it took me 4 1/2 hours to plow out another foot of snow from our driveway and plowed the elderly neighbor’s driveway who lives alone.

On Friday morning, it took another three hours to plow another foot of snow from the second wave of the storm. Our total was over 60 inches. Sue and I took our neighbor’s and her cat, Scribbles, to the vet for some chronic eye problems. Our senior neighbor was embarrassed when the vet told her that Scribbles had herpes, not the sexual kind that caused the cat’s blindness. After the office visit, we took the neighbor to Wal-Mart for her medications and some groceries. On the news, the thruway was still closed, the National Guard had been called in to help and people were now worried about their roofs collapsing from the heavy snow. Now the fear is that the warm weather will bring flooding to homes.

I have been humbled by phone calls and emails from friends in New Hampshire, New Jersey, Brockport and Rochester curious about our situation. The best news is that I have a neighbor who plowed the first wave of snow, repaired the tractor tire and helped find a part for the snowplower.

In the storms of life, it might be a neighbor, family member or stranger who comes to our rescue to plow a driveway, provide the milk and bread, feed us in the convenience store and bring blankets for us to sleep in their home overnight. People who go beyond the call of duty deserve our gratitude and mirror the Christ’ of compassion and love.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends and those who survived this epic event. Exhausted, aching and weary, kindly pray for those courageous people who plowed the roads, the emergency responders and neighbors who helped one another during this biblical snowstorm of the century. On Thanksgiving Day, pause to remember the kind people who went beyond the call of duty to make safe those in distress and pray for the safety of our homes at risk for flooding.