Shut The Door?

We are getting slammed. The winds must be about 20-30 mph and the wind chill factor below zero. Thankfully, I still have power. It is a quiet cozy evening at home which brings me to something my Pop Pops said last night during dinner. In response to my comment about how cold it was he replied, "Once I close the door, I don't worry about the weather outside." I couldn't help but reflect and ponder how that kind of philosophy may apply to life. In other words, once you shut the door, you don't look back and entertain thoughts of what if's or if only's.

Luke 9:62 reads,"Jesus replied, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."There is definitely a time and context in which to press on ahead and not to worry about whom or what's left behind.

Yet I also think of a hymn entitled, They will know we are Christians by Our Love. 1Corinthians 13 gives a most detailed list of what true love is and how it looks. No where in that list does it say to cut someone off, disown them, or close the door. People do it though. They do it to their own family members. I've seen it in my own family.

Somebody says something that gets taken the wrong way, attitudes flare up and nobody talks to anybody for years. People decided it was better to close the door and leave the cold people with the coldness, out in the cold. However, what they don't realize is that the icy wind has seeped inside the chambers of their own hearts and any warmth has eluded them. They don't even think or talk about those left behind. It's as if they don't exist anymore.

Not too long ago, one of the artists in my church created a digital picture of an iced heart surrounded by burning candles. The heat from the candles was actually beginning to melt the ice away from the heart. Heat and warmth that says, "I love you! I believe in you. I keep no record of wrongs and I just want to be a blessing to you. Let's talk about this and work things out."

It sounds crazy and illogical, doesn't it? However, doors are there to be opened and closed. The only weather that should be kept outside is the battering of ice and snow on a night like tonight. Let's not leave the cold people out there, too. Eventually it's bound to kill them instead of change them.

My hope and prayer for my family is they would realize the coldness that has seeped into their own hearts and long for the warmth and healing that comes with love and forgiveness. I hope you too, would rather see that for yourself in your own life and be one of those many candles burning brightly; burning and melting the ice away.