It’s a snow day for Columbus City Schools and, as far as I can tell, just about every K-12 school around Central Ohio.  This is not particularly convenient for parents and guardians who suddenly need to account for their children throughout the day, and do their regular job.

And yet…Maybe I’m alone in this, but I still feel a distinct thrill on snow days.  It could be nostalgia for childhood, but I wonder if it’s something more. 

Snow days are a reminder, amidst our over-programmed lives, that we can, if we deem it necessary, simply stop.  We can cancel activity for the day.  Urgent things can (mostly) wait.  Due dates and deadlines can be revised.

Instead of the regular routine, you could play outside.  You could create something, like a snow angel,  simply for the joy of it – although today looks more like a slush angel.  Or you could stay inside. You could sip something warm, unhurried.  You could read something that wasn’t assigned.

It sounds a lot like Sabbath.  A surprise Sabbath.  A nature-enforced Sabbath. 

Having just finished a season of gift giving, we still underestimate the gift of time.  To be given time we hadn’t expected – what a gift!

I wonder if that’s a bit of what’s behind that ripple of delight when classes are cancelled.  Even if you’re among those who continue to work today, it’s good to know there’s extra Sabbath-ing going on around you.  It’s good to be reminded that we can, collectively, hit the pause button when we choose. 

Snow days are a glimpse of a possibility.     

Joel