As I write this blog snow is forecast to fall later this evening and in the overnight hours. Although snow brings with it some hard shoveling work, yet as it falls it creates much beauty as the landscape is painted white. Even every house in the street looks the same and every yard or garden looks well kept as the blanket of snow hides all differences. Robert Frost wrote this poem in 1921 and it carries a measure of contentment with nature even though there are obligations and promises to be kept. The speaker in this poem takes time to stop, notice and enjoy even at the risk of trespassing! Please pause when you see the snow falling, ponder the beauty of nature and may such beauty inspire you in your ongoing journey, no matter the miles you must travel before rest!
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep. Robert Frost
Prayer:
Come God, and be at my side, be
behind me and ahead of me. May I dwell in
your Holy love and gracious presence.
I rejoice for you O God are all to me
God to enfold me, God to surround me.
God in my speaking, God in my thinking,
God in my sleeping, God in my waking,
God in my watching , God in my hoping,
God in my life, God in my lips,
God in my soul, God in my heart,
God in my suffering, God in my slumber,
God in mine ever-living soul,
God in mine eternity. Carmina Gadelica (sp.)
The Carmina Gadelica is the most comprehensive collection of poems and prayers from the Gaelic tradition of oral poetry. Gathered by Alexander Carmichael, collected between 1860-1910, in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, from Arran to Caithness, from Perth to St. Kilda’. The poems had been handed down through the generations in a living oral tradition. This tradition and the way of life which sustained it have now disappeared but these poems and prayers live on to remind us of the faith of the unknown poets who composed them.
Prayers, Poems, and Christian Ponderings 
I’m so delighted to see a Frost poem, one I know well and love. I have walked many woods in Vermont and New Hampshire, and it is easy to envision the experience we read about in this poem. Randall Thompson’s choral version of the poem is also beautiful.
A fresh snowfall is somehow soothing and I marvel at how the nighttime can be as light as day when snow covers everything. The sweet children’s book, The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is also a favorite. My grandmother taught me how to make snow ice cream, and snow sundaes, buried in a heap of snow outside her kitchen door. Once I let my ice cream melt and discovered it had become a bowl of dirty water. I never let it melt again.
Thank you for raising the lovely memories. Happy New Year!
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