The snow fell in the evening of December 23.

As you can see, it was coming down pretty hard.

December 24th dawned clear and sunny; time to explore the woods.

The woods of Wisconsin can be a little misleading in the winter. As you go in the air is cold, and all is coated with snow or ice.  The trees are bare, and there is no hint of life in their appearance.  The air is so still; and the silence is so loud it hurts your ears.  No birds fly past, the bugs that fill the air in July are gone; it seems that absolutely nothing can live here, and yet…

And yet if you look carefully you might notice footprints in the snow; not footprints made by a man, maybe “tracks” is the right word.  It seems that the rabbits are still around, but where?

Breaking out of the woods is a clearing; wow I can see something alive:

A simple evergreen… life goes on.

A little further along I come to a little roadway; a car has been along here, and then I see something else that’s obviously alive:

If you are a city person like me, you come to realize that like so many other things, the woods in winter are not exactly what they appear to be.  What at first looks like a place where nothing is left alive is actually a place teeming with life; even the dead looking trees are filled with life, and in a few months they will spring back to life again.

This was December 24th, which obviously was followed by December 25th, the day we celebrate our Lord’s birth.  Life really came to earth that day, and in due course that life appeared to be gone; dead and buried…  Yet in due course that life arose and brought eternal life to all who will follow it.  And so is has been for 2,000 years…

A walk in winter woods reminds us that God is in control of nature, and that in it He has made Himself manifest in some amazing and wonderful ways.