Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Musings at St. Andrew's
Rev. Wendy Paterson | Pastoral Care Coordinator

On a recent video call with two of our grandchildren, I asked the eight year old what I should write about for this week's Musings. Of course I explained to her what Musings is about. She thought about it for a moment and then declared, SNOW! So hear is my SNOW Musings.

We have been doing a lot of shovelling lately. Yes, we are very careful. No heavy lifting or prolonged episodes. Mostly we just push the fluffy stuff from the sidewalk in front of our house. We try to stay on top of the task, not letting too much accumulate. It helps to get in the daily 'steps.'  

But one day we had a problem. The snowplow had been down our street and filled up the end of the driveway. That was not light, powdery snow. As your likely know, it is heavy, icy, and packed. We had plans to go out for groceries that day but we needed to clear the end of the driveway first. As we pondered our predicament, a very small plow driven by a complete stranger came along and stopped in front of our house. The driver backed up and with three or four swoops, neatly cleared out our problem and dumped the snow over the bank onto the lawn. The task took less than five minutes. We waved our thanks and he was on his way. He didn't go to any of our neighbours' driveways, only ours.  

We were very pleased and so grateful. Of course we would have liked to bake him some cookies or at least tell him how much we appreciated his help, but it was a classic case of needing to 'pay it forward' since this Good Samaritan was clearly not looking for any reward.

I expect that man with the small plow thought nothing of the short stop he made to help out two seniors that snowy day, but to us, we are still telling the story and talking about how blessed we were.  

As we move further into this New Year, let me invite you to surprise somebody you know or a complete stranger by doing something kind and unexpected. It doesn't have to be a big deal, but even a small gesture can make a huge difference in someone's life. Or if you are the recipient of a kind, anonymous gift, think about how you might 'pay it forward.'  

Rev. Wendy Paterson
Pastoral Care Coordinator