{"id":962,"date":"2013-12-21T21:17:44","date_gmt":"2013-12-21T21:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=962"},"modified":"2013-12-18T21:36:27","modified_gmt":"2013-12-18T21:36:27","slug":"winter-wonder-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/winter-wonder-land.html","title":{"rendered":"Winter Wonder-land"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesty of anankkml\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Didn’t it begin earlier? Winter, I mean. Snow has already blanketed much of the Northern Hemisphere, and cold temps have thrown many areas into a deep freeze. Yet, calendar-wise, winter has only begun on December 21. Makes me wonder if the dates really matter much, when we see what’s really happening in the world. After all,”winter” connotes much of what has been occurring already- winter weather, winter clothing out of storage, wintry “comfort food” on the table. And, along with this, we’re already experiencing the inconvenience of winter storms, the pang of colder wind, and the overall chilled feeling of shorter days and longer nights.<\/p>\n

What is the point of keeping track of winter on a calendar?<\/p>\n

Perhaps superficially, there is no real point at all. But looking more deeply, I think there is – and we can glean from this more profound reason a bit of warm wisdom for our souls, too.<\/p>\n

Pain and illness are much like winter. They are uncomfortable (to say the least!) and they turn us away from light, warmth, and comfort. Their time-span is like a long, barren season, when we might become increasingly despondent, even depressed as they wear on, seemingly without end. \u00a0But then, moving alongside of us throughout our lives, is a kind of “calendar” of faith. As we move through the year, we have Easter, an uplifting holiday to remember God’s love for us and His amazing power. And we have Christmas, a time to focus on God’s love, too, and His gifts to us. \u00a0Were it not for these times, these ways in which God manifests His love for us, we might continue on our wintry way. But these events celebrated each year renew our spirits, refresh our souls, and give us the spring, summer and fall that we need to weather those really difficult “other” times – those winters.<\/p>\n

Winter allows the earth to rest and the world to slow down a bit. The winters in our souls afford us the opportunity to hibernate, too, and work at renewing our spiritual lives so that we might emerge stronger, more joyful, and grow brighter in His Light for days and years to come!<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day,
\nMaureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Didn’t it begin earlier? Winter, I mean. Snow has already blanketed much of the Northern Hemisphere, and cold temps have thrown many areas into a deep freeze. Yet, calendar-wise, winter has only begun on December 21. Makes me wonder if the dates really matter much, when we see what’s really happening in the world. After…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[241,3,43,4],"tags":[29,44,857,123,30,62,228,712,134],"class_list":["post-962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","tag-chronic-illness","tag-chronic-pain","tag-first-day-of-winter","tag-light","tag-pain","tag-sorrow","tag-soul","tag-winter","tag-wisdom"],"yoast_head":"\nWinter Wonder-land - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/winter-wonder-land.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Winter Wonder-land - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Didn’t it begin earlier? Winter, I mean. Snow has already blanketed much of the Northern Hemisphere, and cold temps have thrown many areas into a deep freeze. Yet, calendar-wise, winter has only begun on December 21. Makes me wonder if the dates really matter much, when we see what’s really happening in the world. 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Winter, I mean. Snow has already blanketed much of the Northern Hemisphere, and cold temps have thrown many areas into a deep freeze. Yet, calendar-wise, winter has only begun on December 21. Makes me wonder if the dates really matter much, when we see what’s really happening in the world. 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=962"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":963,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962\/revisions\/963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}