Daily Devotion:

Title: How Cold Was it?

Date: November 19, 2012

A New Yorker flew in for a holiday on Lake Chesuncook* last July. One night by the campfire, his Maine guide entertained him with winter tales. “There are snow drifts taller than spruce trees; winds are so frosty that your breath freezes solid as soon as it leaves your lips, littering the ground with lumps that occasionally need to be shoveled into a pile. There are two seasons up here — winter and the Fourth of July.”

“Well,” said the urbanite, “we have cold snaps in the city, but nothing like what you describe. How do you manage under such conditions?”

“Me?” replied the guide, “I don't stand it, not anymore. Before it freezes up solid, I pack up my gear, find the wife, and go down south to stay warm for the winter.”

“Florida?” asked the New Yorker.

“Nope,” said the guide, “Portland.”

Portland was plenty cold in winter’s last snap. Makes me wonder about all the folks who need heat assistance, the homeless, and those barely making ends meet. Thank God for The Salvation Army, local shelters, food pantries, Coats for Kids, Goodwill, town assistance, and churches — all of whom supply a refuge, money, heat, food, or coats in the dead of winter. If you’re cold or hungry, turn to one of them.

Let’s Pray: Dear God, we pray for those whose homes are cold, those who lack food because they choose heat, or who need coats, or a place to stay. Let our hands be Your hands.  Amen.

Here’s a Thought: When you give to one of these, you give to Me.

Source: Matthew 25:31-46

*Lake Chesuncook is a reservoir in Piscataquis County, Maine, formed by the damming of the western branch of the Penobscot River.