What does a blanket of
freshly fallen snow mean to you? A pristine landscape that should be left untouched
or an invitation to leave your footprints?
At the opening chapel
of the new semester, spiritual life director Gord Park said he sees both. The
white snow is a symbol of the fresh start that God offers us every day in the
forgiveness of our sins (Psalm 51:7), and it’s also an invitation to leave our
mark (Isaiah 20:21).
A fresh snowfall is a
metaphor for a new semester, Park said. “You get to lay down new tracks.”
And just as the tracks
in his backyard – made by squirrels, a dog, and neighbour taking a shortcut –
are evidence of life that Park said he might not otherwise see, we can decide
to leave tracks that are evidence of the life that is in us.
The footprints in our
lives are Christ’s, and we can live as Christ sees us, “whiter than snow,” Park
said. This semester, in the way you smile at each other, befriend each other,
and care for each other, “you get to lay down tracks of the life that is in
you.”
