The Snow

By Ye Wei-ping

I

Snow in March. It's quite rare. Before I am fully awake this morning, I hear the wind gusting outside the window. Rolling up the curtain, I see snowflakes flying all over the sky. I hurriedly put on my jacket and dash outside to rescue my lilies. Back inside, I dust off the snow, make myself a cup of tea and sit peacefully at the window to enjoy the snow.

I am a southerner, but still I love snow. The snowstorm paints everything in white, presenting a glorious northern scene. In the rushing wind, fresh snowflakes start out like white powder; then they turn into thick goose feathers freely dancing up and down like an army of soldiers striding by. As I gaze, mesmerised, at the scene, I see a few flakes bouncing at the window sill. A closer look shows they are dancing like graceful angels. Then I notice something shiny. The snowflakes have finally settled on the window sill and transformed themselves into silver flowers. Gracefully they line up and form a delicate pattern. They are like flowers, yet they are more than mere flowers. They are like gorgeous blooms coming from outer space. I can't resist the joy and exhilaraation welling up in my heart. I take asip from my tea cup before having a closer look. Then as quickly as they come, the silver flowers are gone; instead, a huge silver dragon is dancing outside the window. The silver flowers have turned into gentle visitors in white robes, gracefully bidding farewell to me in the snow. I cannot figure out how many soldiers are rushing by or how many angels are dancing by because the snowstorm seems to have obscured everything and I can see nothing but shadows. The scene is so poetic that I almost want to ride the silver dragon and dance out there in the whiteness. While I indulge myself in my fantasy, the white snow completely covers everything and the heavens and the earth have become one.

II

Yesterday the sky had been clear with a brisk spring breeze swishing energetically by. Who could have imagined that a single night was all it would take to turn the weather into gusty blizzardy winds? The whole world seems to be loaded with snow today. Tomorrow sunny spring can come back again; blue jays can dance again and nightingales can sing again. I am amazed that the weather can turn warm or cold as swiftly as a rabbit running gracefully across a field. What magnificent style! Snow has been a favorite subject for poets. There are familiar lines like "blossoming pear trees in their thousands", "A fisherman in the lonely boat, fishing the snow in the river", "Three days of snow extinguish birds and men in the lake", "When the snow is over, all things are wonderful, fresh or otherwise". It is indeed wonderful, but who could possibly have unfolded such a wonderful heavens and earth? The answer to this promises to be the most interesting of all.

I learned the word nature (Zi Ran in Chinese) when I was little. Zi means self and Ran means settled. So the word nature in Chinese means self-settled. It was not until I was born again that I learned, to my astonishment, that the universe was created. And so I discovered the key to so much that had puzzled me. Since then I can't help laughing whenever I see the word Zi Ran. How can the beautiful snowy scene be self-settled? Even a simple dumpling requires somebody to make the dough and chop up the filling. Unless somebody prepares it, dinner will naturally be impossible. So the word creation is preferable here. It is the Creator Who brings everything into being: marching galaxies, recurring seasons, rushing clouds, dashing forests, the lofty rainbow, returning swallows, singing birds, humming crickets, waving crops and blooming flowers.

III

I have seen many painted landscapes. But no matter how good they are, paintings do not even come close to the actual scenes. The painter of the heavens and the earth is God the Creator. Masterpieces produced by men, I am sorry to say, are like children's handwork. The artists are not to blame, however. Who is wise enough to compete with Almighty God the Creator? One poet wrote: "The twilight is unboundedly good". The word unboundedly is appropriate. When God created the universe, He said: "It is good." If God says something is good, even the most picky person in the world is obliged to say unboundedly good because Creation is perfect. And in the entire universe, our earth is definitely under special care. God described to Job how the earth was created, "while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy." (Job 38:7) What a glorious impact was made by the creation of the earth!

Man has feelings. When your eyes capture the wonderful scenes of sky and earth and mountains and rivers, you can't help exclaiming with astonishment. You don't have to be a learned person to do so. When it comes to praising the wonderful righteous acts of the Creator, man's spirit can rise above all human malice and falsehood. When we are feeling joy, we don't care about time; when we are conducting macroscopic or microscopic researches, we are uncovering the wonders of Creation; when we praise and sing along with the stars and the angels, aren't we actng exactly as God intended?

It is unfortunate that human nature is so filled with evil. We can only temporarily conquer our innate malice and falsehood. From emperors to ordinary people, we are reluctant to give glory to God the Creator. In the Bible, this is how sin is defined. Sometimes we are even ambitious enough to try to dethrone God. Although we "feel lost in front of the magnificence of nature", we also dream of "challenging the divine". We follow the examples of heroes in history by being willing to give up our life for some cause. And so comes instability in society, lamentation in the wilderness, restless souls in bondage and sufferings in daily life. How miserable our life is!

The sun tries to break through the clouds while the earth is still dressed in white. I am reminded of the Lord Jesus whose head and hair, the Bible tells us, were white like wool, as white as snow (Rev. 1:14). I am amazed at the Lord, He who holds all things together (Col. 1:17), sustaining all things by His powerful word (Heb. 1:3), and who created and arranged the heavens and the earth. Am I worthy of His leaving His heavenly glory to come into this world so that I may experience the holiness and righteousness of God? Am I worthy of his suffering hunger and homelessness in this world, with no place to lay His head, simply because He wanted to persuade me to return to the eternal home? Am I worthy of the sufferings he endured on the cross, shedding his blood and giving up his life so that my sins may be cleansed and I, mortal and perishable, can now be reconciled with the righteous God who is purer than the snow before me now. My mortal life can now become eternal because of my faith, and I can now live in perfect goodness and beauty, peace, joy, fearless and content. I can now praise the Lord along with the angels? Am I worthy of all this?

The Bible records that He said, "It is finished." (John 19:30) With these words, my spirit is freed, and so it has been for the last fifteen years or more. Not only do I know Him now, but eternity also awaits me. My cup is overflowing with blessings from such a wonderful teacher and good friend as Jesus. No more shall I be in any need!

With these thoughts, I see a brightness in front of me. I empty my tea cup and decide to quit dreaming about riding the silver dragon and enjoying the snowstorms. Today is Sunday and I must get ready to go out. Is there anything that makes me happier than worshipping the Lord Jesus? How I hope that all the members of our churches and all brothers and sisters who are blessed by the Lord will come out to church so that we can all share together our feelings about this snowy March day.

The author came from Guangdong Province. He is now a principal engineer in Motorola in Texas, USA.