This will be short, written in the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri – known in local parlance as “Snowmageddon.” 

My week has been similar to millions in this region: very, very cold; frequently dark; and – for a few memorable days – without access to water.

But… the snow is melting in brilliant sunshine this morning. My girls are doing homework. Other than the appointment to shower at a friend’s house this afternoon because our hot water supply remains out (thank you, Carol!), it could be a Normal Saturday.

This rapid return to the comforts and luxuries which we usually take for granted brings me to Insight #1: My “normal” is incredibly privileged. Reliable electricity and potable water available hot and cold, 24/7, represents a remarkable baseline. Elsewhere in the world, millions of people do without electricity and hike miles to procure water – and that is “normal.” My own great-grandparents had outhouses and well water and that was “normal.” My routine comforts and luxuries were conspicuous in their brief absence this week; as they come back online, I am overwhelmed by the fact of them.

Insight #2: Many things are beyond my capacity to control. This sounds pretty self-evident, right, since the whole world just lived through 2020? But power grids, internet connectivity, and water were never among the casualties of Covid. Further, being in Covid lockdown at home encouraged the illusion that home was safe, and that staying home meant staying in control. Uri accomplished what Covid did not: complete elimination of the illusion that there are any truly safe places or ways to stay in control. (That sounds grim, but it isn’t – the truth liberates! Remembering where my security is absolute and eternal, calling on the One who is actually & always in control, enables me to roll with the punches inevitable to life on this planet.)

Insight #3: Railing against the things I cannot control is a waste of time and energy. Railing against the things I cannot control inflicts one more trial on those around me. And railing against those things I cannot control keeps me focused on those things – a vicious cycle of negativity that demoralizes and exhausts. Sometimes I need to keep my mouth shut and wait it out. Sometimes keeping my mouth shut while waiting it out represents spectacular moral victory. Ahem.

Insight #4: Waiting it out is the only appropriate response to things that I cannot control, but waiting it out is the WRONG response to things I should impact with immediate, decisive action. Example: our family was waiting out the cold and darkness of offline power, but our family moved fast when a water supply line burst and sent a flood gushing through our ceiling. Waiting during a flood makes a bad situation infinitely worse; inaction amplifies flood damage exponentially. 

Insight #5: Having experienced both power outage and a flood this week, I am reflecting on some uncomfortable ways that those physical situations serve as apt metaphors for relational and spiritual situations. Too often, I mistake power outages for floods and race to attempt to do what is not mine to do – what I cannot do. Fixing people and fixing messes I did not make fall into that category. Also too often, I find it tempting to designate floods as power outages and try to wait them out… ignoring the escalating damage / waiting for someone else to come to the rescue. Neglecting my own health and procrastinating my own work fall into that category.

The weather forecast for this week is mild and pleasant. Last Monday, the high was 12 degrees; this coming Monday, the mercury will approach 60. That dramatic shift showcases my last insight: most catastrophic storms don’t last long, and the way we approach recovery matters. 

As we recover from Snowmaggedon 2021 / Winter Storm Uri, I humbly offer three suggestions for robust (even righteous!) recovery:

• Voice gratitude for the luxuries and comforts that constitute our privileged “normal.” Don’t mistake them – ever again – for rights. 
• Acknowledge what we cannot control. Don’t fixate on the frustrations. Keep our mouths shut unless we are voicing gratitude (see above). 
• Discern which are the power outages and which are the floods in our own lives moving forward. Do what is ours to do. Leave what is not ours to do. Be at peace in both postures.

These adjustments just might redeem this particular catastrophic storm. Recovery might even morph into revival. 

May it be so!