Relationships Out in the Cold
Yesterday was the coldest April Easter in the Twin Cities in 57 years. In fact, it wasn't really any warmer than Christmas back in December when the average temperature for the day was 27.5. Yesterday's was 29.

And it was cold (19 degrees F.) out there in the cemetery as our brass band played and the sun rose over our little group of Moravians proclaiming that the grave cannot hold power any more. As I stood there keeping my hand from freezing to the trumpet I glanced around and thought about all the people in all the houses around the cemetery hearing us play. I wondered if they thought we were a little out of our minds. We looked so powerless and helpless there on the hill, wrapped in winter clothes while making music of spring and rebirth.

Yet we weren't powerless. Far from it. Our proclamation was one of power. The power of relationship. First the relationship that Jesus had with God that allowed him to be who he was- God incarnate. Second the relationship that we can have with him even though were are physically separated from him by two millennia but as present as if he were next to us. And the third relationship was the one we were enacting for any who wanted to see- the relationship of believers- brothers and sisters in Christ- who have learned that we need each other.

And Speaking of the Weather
At times I feel strange leading with or posting simply about the weather. I for one am a weather geek. I make no apologies for that. It keeps me off the streets.

Talking about the weather, in Seth Godin et. al.'s The Big Moo answered the question about why we talk so much about the weather and gave me the okay to talk about it. The writer of that chapter came to the realization that the weather is one of the few things that affects all of us. We all have our experiences with weather- and our own reactions to it. Perhaps, the writer said, "it isn't totally vacuous after all."

As he (or she) started talking about the weather to people he/she met they began to realize that talking about the weather became an effective bridge to shared experience or even deeper conversations. When you talk about the weather you open the possibilities to instant links to the world beyond oneself. Weather is everywhere. It is a good way to start relationships that can make a difference for you and them.

It is amazing how much the weather can bring us closer and raise our awareness of each other. It's one more way we can learn to pay attention.