Yet again a freak October snowstorm not only knocked out power to most of Long Valley and beyond; but it also knocked out worship for the second time in two months and with it the capital campaign kickoff. 

I’d like to complain but to who?   The power company has received enough complaints, as has the cable and phone companies.  I can’t complain to my family for they were in the same predicament.  Maybe I can complain to all of us for burning our fossil fuels that has caused the climate change that spurs October snowstorms, but meteorologists assure me that no one weather event is any indication of global warming.

I guess that leaves God.  Who else can claim responsibility for what we’ve endured this past week?   

Of course this is nothing new.  In fact God has heard humanity’s complaints throughout history.  Remember the Israelites complaining about the food after they escaped from Egypt.  Or read the Psalms.  About half of the Psalms are called laments; people complaining to God for a whole host of reasons.

But here’s the good news in all of this.  God can take it. 

Remember that God has chosen to live in relationship with us.  God has chosen to abide with us.  God knows who we are and that we are not happy when the rhythms of life are upset.  God won’t hold it against us when we complain, even if we are a bit whiny considering what others endure in this world.

I’m always taken by the laments in the Psalms.  The writers unleash their complaints upon God’s listening ears; but the laments always end in a note of praise.  After God has heard them out the writers realize that their lot is not all despair, and that the living God is still present in their life.

So if you need, give a good complaint to God about the weather, and then know that God is still present, God is still bestowing abundant blessings to our lives.