One of the canticles for Morning Prayer renders praise for creation at the break of day: Sun and moon, bless the Lord! Stars of heaven, bless the Lord! Fire and heat, bless the Lord! All you winds, bless the Lord! Cold and chill, bless the Lord!
              The list goes on and on.
              I love praying these verses in winter time, standing by my wood pellet stove and sipping a cup of coffee as the house warms up.
              Yes! Fire and heat, bless the Lord!
              The quiet dawn and the flicker flames invigorate my manly soul. This, despite the fact that my stove burns store-bought pellets instead of logs split with my own hand. A recent cold front, however, ratcheted up my outdoor spirit despite the use of manufactured pellets.
             A week prior to the artic blast that brought windchills of -17 degrees, my faithful pellet stove quit working. This forced me to hibernate inside a bedroom the size of a monk’s cell. An electric space heater, push-ups and running-in-place provided a smidge of warmth.
            All you winds, bless the Lord? Cold and chill, bless the Lord?
            The verses no longer occupied a few moments of morning meditation, they goose-bumped my skin throughout the day!
            Fortunately, the local power grid stayed in service throughout the storm. With due respect to Daniel, the prophet, I did attach an addendum to his inspired text: Transmission lines and electricity, bless the Lord! All you linemen and bucket trucks, bless the Lord!
            Yes! Amen! Amen! (burr!) Amen!