No Two Alike

Snow has been falling in earnest lately in our area– sometimes wet and heavy blobs, unsure of their status as liquid or solid; other times cold and wispy flakes, hovering and swirling in the frosty air, shimmering as they catch the light of street lamps, headlights, and even moonlight.  Snow has coated limbs and branches of trees, and painted iron fences and rooftops white against the leaden skies.

We learn as children that each flake of snow is unique– no two are alike among all the hundreds of millions of flakes that fall.  And just so, we are also taught, no two people are exactly alike.  Each of us is unique.

God himself underscores this analogy in the book of Job, when He describes rain, dew, frost, and ice:

²⁸ “Has the rain a father,
    or who has begotten the drops of dew?
²⁹ From whose womb did the ice come forth,
    and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?
³⁰ The waters become hard like stone,
    and the face of the deep is frozen.

Job 38:28-30 (ESV)

Just as each drop of water, each snow flake, each bit of frost is unique, so are we.  And so should be our prayers–millions of voices and hearts raised to our Father in praise, petition, repentance, supplication, worship, adoration–trembling or triumphant– each as unique in our needs and utterances as the beautiful snowflakes dancing and skittering around in the moonlight.  No two of us are alike, yet together we fill the empty night with wonder and give honor to our creator by being who we were created to be.

As we pray today, let us remember to be grateful for our uniqueness– celebrate God’s artistry by being fully ourselves and celebrating the uniqueness of the others around us.