"Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they do when they stick together." Verna M. Kelly

It snowed in Baghdad today. According to reports, this has not happened in more than a hundred years. News reports show the delighted faces of children looking up at the puffs of white falling gently from the sky. Veiled women and men in dark clothing stood with umbrellas staring out from under their protective domes with eyes of wonder.

And then someone said it:"Perhaps this is a sign of peace." For those of us who live several months out of every year with snow piled all around us, it seems like a ridiculous thought. Snow is most often a nuisance to us. But, why not? For those who have lived all of their lives in a state of war and fear, why couldn’t these miraculous bundles of ice be a sign of what they long for so deeply? Manna from heaven in the form of snowflakes, each a unique fanciful creation of beauty, each a magical sign dropping from above.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, instead of being a possible sign of climate change and its results, this snow falling was a sign of peace to come? Oh, to stick out tongues and feel the cool, melting presence of peace, and swallowing its refreshment. Wouldn’t it be wonderful?

In her poem "Amazing Peace: A Celebration" Maya Angelou speaks of the Christmas season in this way: "It is the Glad Season. Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner. Floodwaters recede into memory. Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us as we make our way to higher ground."

Any effort for peace is founded on higher ground. On giving up our need to control. On relinquishing our fear. On allowing that we do not have the full picture of any situation. On humility, compassion, empathy, and a great love. It is as fragile as a snowflake.

A sign of peace? Only God knows…..but we can pray it is so. As for me, I don’t know that I will ever look again at a snowflake without thinking, "I remember when it snowed in Baghdad one day."

Have a blessed weekend…………………