The anticipation produces more anxiety than the actual event.   The storm was forecasted to hit in the early morning hours.  The next thing I know the exact time was moved forward to early afternoon hours.  I am hoping that it will be past rush hour traffic.  Well, even better than that, no storm at all.

I keep checking my cell phone for the latest updates.  I plan my whole day around the supposed storm.  I take an inventory of milk, bread, eggs, and bottled water. The last snow storm I ran out of cat food, so I learned to pay attention to that also.  I ended up getting a bag of organic cat food last-minute as I did not have time to rush across town to get the regular brand.  Even though the bag claims, “The taste that cats crave” my pet doesn’t agree.  Within a few minutes it becomes clear that my emergency plan is first and foremost rejected by the cat. 

I give my kids advance storm instructions. I tell my daughter to anticipate early pick-up from school if it gets bad.  I say, “Tell them your Mom does not know how to drive well in snow.”   I’ll take the blame.  I’ll admit it.  I hate driving in snow.  There is nothing that incites the maniac faster in me than icy highways.

Waiting for the snow to hit is like waiting for the end of the world.  It reminds me of the hubbub about the Mayan claims of the end of the world coming this year on December 21.  My thought about this is that if they were so knowledgeable about dates and events, why were they unable to preserve their own civilization?  It seems like they could have come up with a plan before their own demise.  Just saying.  Recently National Geographic theorizes that the implosion of their culture was due to climate change.  Climate change?  I’m all ears about climate change in Chicago now.

Most of you probably remember the warnings that were set for Y2K.  I’ll admit that I did put up a few gallons of water and stuck a Coleman stove in the basement.  But year 2000 came and went.  Year 2000 had its difficulties but life goes on.

This Sunday’s Old Testament reading is from the book of Jonah (Jonah 3:1-5, 10).  The Lord issued a message through Jonah that the great city of Nineveh would be destroyed due to their nasty and sinful ways.  What did these people do upon hearing this?  They did not scoff at the information.  They did not rationalize.  They did not store up food in their basement.  They believed God:

“…they proclaimed claimed a fast and all of them great and small put on sackcloth.  When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, He repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;  He did not carry it out.”

I’m not the one to pass judgment on our city and civilization.  But I always feel that the best preparation for the end of the world is to get right with God.  Once again, I’m just saying.