Bishop Caggiano’s reflection on the storm
As I sit here at my desk watching the snow storm intensify, I cannot help but be filled with so many different memories of past snow storms, particularly those that occurred when I was a little boy.
Growing up in Brooklyn, it was part of ordinary life to become accustomed to noise of every variety. Living on the third floor of an apartment building that overlooked a major road, I quickly learned to block out the noise of the cars, buses, sanitation trucks, deliveries and the normal hustle and bustle of people walking by every day under our window.
Such noise was part of the background of every day. However, I remember the times when we were hit by large snowstorms and how quickly the noise ended. The silence of the street below was jarring! The cars and buses stopped, sanitation trucks came by intermittently with snow plows and there was no one walking on the street. As I looked out the living room window upon the city street below,
I can still remember how the silence was both unexpected and welcomed. There was something very calming and peaceful about the silence- a silence that I grew to realize could be mine each time I stopped long enough to sit in God’s presence in prayer. Snow also made the city beautiful and bright. I remember how striking it first appeared when everything was blanketed in white snow, untouched by human hands or feet as the storm passed through. The city lights made the snow glow and lit the street in a beautiful white glow. I remember wondering to myself as a young boy if heaven would glow in the same way, beautiful and bright?
Remembering such sights, even now after so many years, gives me a great sense of peace. For Heaven will undoubtedly glow with a light of unimaginable beauty because it will be the glow of God’s eternal love that will fill us forever!
I know that in a few hours, when this storm passes, we will need to dig out. The snow will certainly make travel difficult, inconvenience many and even cause hazardous conditions for those who do not take care when they drive while the streets are being treated. These are the adult concerns that now occupy your life and mine.
However, for these brief hours, as nature shows her ability to rearrange our normal lives and forces us to slow down and simply watch the snow come down, my heart is filled with memories and gratitude for the beauty of our world and the goodness of our God who offers us peace, silence, beauty and the glow of His grace each day, whether it snows or not.
