“Conversation about weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.” – Oscar Wilde

I am writing this column when I would normally be preaching to you because today worship has been cancelled on account of snow. While on the one hand I wouldn’t want anyone venturing out into such blustery and icy weather-- I am a Mainer at heart and believe that bad weather should never limit our activities.

As I write this I am also noticing how much I miss being together this morning and how Sunday seems to be missing somehow and the question that is puzzling me this morning is why do we worship together and how can it be so easy to just cancel it?

Certainly part of what I miss is seeing all of your faces. So fellowship is part of why we come together. But part of what I miss is also the pause in my weekly routine. The chance to sit in the quite and peace of the meeting house and pray. I miss the music this morning too. Part of why we come together this week is to hear Linnea play the organ so beautifully and the choir always lifts my spirits.

I live right next door to the meeting and parish house so it would be easy for me to open the doors. But gathering the choir on such a day as this might be difficult – if not impossible. Do we call off church simply because the choir cannot be there? Or is there something sacred and precious that marks our Sunday in worship even when it isn’t exactly the way we expect it to be?

I hope so.

I am certain that we can each mark our Sunday in a worshipful way even when we are not in church. We can hold Sabbath as sacred at home, or in the woods or even when watching the Patriots play. Even so I pray that in the future the snow will hold off until Sunday evening in order to give children a day off from school-- without interfering with Sunday worship.

If worship is cancelled again this year due to bad weather-- I encourage everyone who stays at home to find some way to mark the day as sacred so that your sense of Sabbath is not lost. If you are to venture out on such a day as today --I invite your hearty soul to gather with me in the parsonage for warmth and reflection.

May all of us be safe and warm this winter season.