And God laughed.

I wasn't laughing last Sunday morning when a record snowfall trapped me inside our house. There I waited with mounting frustration for the snowplow to come and clear the road so I could get to church.

It is indeed strange to have a routine that you are so used to engaging in suddenly be so disrupted. I was lost!

I was and am also a pastor and so I occupied my waiting time wondering what I could learn theologically from this mess.

First, I got in touch with my feelings of belonging, of how Sunday mornings are such an important part of my life as I reconnect with the people who have allowed me the privilege of sharing in their spiritual journeys.

Would I be less of who I am not having done what I am supposed to do? Even framing the question informed me of the importance of separation from time to time. Lord of the Mountains Church could get along just fine without me, I realized...not without some pain.

Then, I thought of all those whose Sunday mornings only occasionally include worship. How do they understand what we do at 8:00 and 10:30 every Sunday morning? Is it more like going out to a show than sitting down to dinner with your family? Is there less a sense of responsibility to others and more a need for personal gratification? What are folks thinking when worship becomes just one more intrusion in already too busy lives?

This is not hyperbole. It is truth. Somewhere deep in my soul, I recognized the reality that my life loses its meaning when it is deprived of that ritual call to repentance, acceptance and celebration.

I need Christ's body and blood in order to be who I am called to be!

Still frustrated by an absent snowplow, I couldn't help but smile as I recognized how God had used this waiting time to speak again to me.

I laughed then and so, I believe, did God.