Beautiful Bad Weather

For all that bad weather (ice storms, blizzards, etc.) can be so inconvenient, even debilitating, the one good thing that seems to accompany bad weather is the sudden emergence of good samaritans.

Over the past few weeks, there have been several little storms and things that have ended up putting me in a bad position one way or another. Each time, I was rescued by at least one charitable individual.

In an ice storm, my car ended up in a ditch. I called my brother, and he immediately dropped what he was doing and convinced several other young men to do likewise. They came out and got my car to a safe location, which happened to be the driveway of an older gentleman who lived right by the scene of the accident. He offered of his own accord the use of his driveway for as long as I needed the car to stay there. I'd never laid eyes on the man before in my life. An off-duty policeman, who happened to be rescuing his daughter (whose car had suffered a similar fate as mine), drove me home.

In the most recent storm, we had a few inches of snow sandwiched between two layers of astonishingly thick ice. The town and county plows never even came through our neighborhood. The man who lives next door, however, owns a tractor. He very graciously plowed my steep driveway, and then proceeded to clear a track through the streets of our neighborhood, helped here and there by those who have snow-blowers. They were at it most of the day, working to clear away the treacherous snow and ice for everyone.

I was very impressed and touched by this behavior. While I know that naturally, we need this kind of weather to keep the earth green and alive, I am inclined to wonder if spiritually, God allows this sort of weather so that we may have opportunities for charity, and occasion to remember that the world is not yet wholly lost, nor without individuals willing to go the extra mile for neighbors in need.