Staff Articles
Let it Snow! - Thursday, December 21, 2006
While snowed in with around 16 inches of snow at the start of this month, I was, ironically, reading a book entitled Snow. The time off gave me a little extra time to catch up on that and other projects for school (minus, of course, the time I spent running in the snow with my wife and dog Poco). The novel, by Nobel Prize in Literature winner Orhan Pamuk, explores the religious and political tensions in Turkey. It is an enlightening and, at times, entertaining novel that helps educate the reader about some of the issues at play in that region.
In particular, the novel shows the complexity of the situation with conflict between fundamentalist Muslims, moderate Muslims, and secularists. This is a perspective that many Americans—especially Baptists—would gain from learning. Instead of fear-mongering, we should do more thoughtful reflection that occurs from readings such as this novel.
One interesting development within Snow is the symbolism of snow throughout the novel. Sometimes snow is talked about, but often snow is mentioned as on the ground or falling to draw attention to a particular issue or thought. Some of these references deal with the issue of God and religion.
At one point the main character, Ka, states, “The snow reminds me of God.” At another point he speaks of himself in the third person: “If I were an author and Ka were a character in a book, I’d say, ‘Snow reminds Ka of God!’ But I’m not sure it would be accurate. What brings me close to God is the silence of snow.”
It was interesting to look at the piles of snow and notice the cars buried that left many stranded in their homes for a couple of days. Of course, the stores did not like the storm as it wiped out much of a normal busy shopping weekend just weeks before Christmas. I wondered what people were doing for those days. Maybe some curled up with a loved one and read a book. Maybe some played in the snow with their friends, kids, or dog. Maybe some just sat around and rested.
While some people did get out in the snow (though not all got to their planned destination), it seemed that many more stayed in and avoided the holiday rush than would have had it not snowed. Hopefully many people were able to escape the traditional holiday rush, if only for a couple of days. Perhaps the snow temporarily stopped some of us from being caught up in the commercialization of Christmas and the craziness of the season that can sometimes make us forget the real reason for it all.
While reading the novel Snow and looking out at the snow, I wondered if maybe our sixteen inches of ice, snow, and slush had reminded even just a few people of God. Maybe the silence of the snow storm was able to shut out the distractions. Perhaps we need more snow storms that keep up stuck indoors with family and friends. Perhaps we need more snow storms that remind us to play and rejoice. Perhaps we need more snow storms to keep up from being distracted by the malls. Perhaps we need more snow storms to bring enough silence to remind us of God.
Throughout the year, but especially at Christmas, it is important to make sure that we do not allow the distractions of the world to keep us from hearing God’s still small voice. Hopefully, we can take some time of silence to ponder the great meaning of Christmas. As the classic Christmas song declares, “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!”
