Uncovering Hope

I’m not a big fan of snow.  I know people love to get snuggly under a blanket and binge-watch TV while they are snowed in.  I wish it wasn’t true, but snow makes me anxious.  However, there is one thing I do like about snow.  Our dog, Nelson, is a pit-bull terrier rescue.  We do not have a fenced-in yard, so Nelson gets walked frequently.  She, like all dogs, loves to sniff around. 

I have a terrible sense of smell as a human, so it’s hard for me to imagine how Nelson perceives the world.  However, when it snows, it becomes VERY clear what she is looking for.  Without the snow, her wanderings look haphazard and chaotic, but with the snow, it’s obvious that she’s following tracks.  She will bound out of the front door and head straight for whatever rabbit, deer, or dog track she perceives.  It is amazing to watch her as she dodges from one set of tracks to the next – always on the trail.  The lurching that I see without the snow is gone, replaced by a dog with a clear sense of direction, following a path I didn’t even realize was there.  It seems like a miracle.  I know she doesn’t randomly wander around, but the snow makes it so obvious. 

Marcel Proust states, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”  With or without the snow, our yard is the same yard.  Our street is the same street.  But just how the snow covers old animal tracks, it also reveals new tracks.  The world is constantly covering and uncovering truth, hope, and potential.  It is by having new eyes that we can undertake the voyage of discovery in ourselves and in doing so help to uncover truth, hope, potential for others.

Creator, help us find wonder in events we cannot control and draw close to you when we need to calm our anxious thoughts and focus on the beauty around us.  Help us watch a dog do what she was born to do and be amazed.  Amen.

Michelle is a Safety Manager with the Department of Veterans Affairs. She’s a reader, listener, and travel enthusiast.