A Scoff of Snow

     This winter we have had many predictions of inches of snow only to receive a skiff.  This has happened so many times I have begun calling it a "scoff" of snow, nature laughing at us for  the presumption of prediction.  So far the weather has been warm and sunny, my kind of winter, but I know for the sake of the farms and forests we need the added moisture snow provides.  I am not too concerned about the skiers, although they add to the struggling local economy, because skiing is basically an expensive hobby.  Another irony of the unusually low snowfall is that this is supposed to be a "La Nina" year, meaning unusually high snowfall. Residents of Seattle and Oregon would probably agree.
    There was an amusing letter to the editor of the local paper attributing our lack of snow to the wrath of the Jesus statue.  There has been significant local controversy over attempts by a Wisconsin based "Freedom From Religion" group saying the Forest Service has no right to grant a lease for the land on which the statue sits because of the separation of church and state.  They feel that having a statue of Jesus on an out of the way area of the Whitefish ski resort is cramming Christianity down someone's throat. That is like saying the presence of beer at the Mini-Mart  compelled me to become an alcoholic.  This statue was put up by a veteran's group in the 50's as a memorial to those who died in the war.  The lease of a few square feet of public land on which the statue sits has been renewed without question until this year.
     The public outcry on behalf of the statue has been loud.  Some want to keep the statue because of the happy memories it evokes of ski trips past, some as a tribute to the veterans who put it there, but most are mad that a group of Wisconsin loonies are trying to tell Montana locals what to do.  Admittedly, the statue is not a great work of art, but they aren't trying to remove it for lack of artistic value, they want to remove it because it is Christian.  There are eight reasons this is unreasonable:  1) There is no constitutional right to freedom from religion, unless it is opposite day. 2)  You can't see it from Wisconsin.  3)  People from here who don't ski have never seen it, including me. 4)  People who do ski in Whitefish have to go out of their way to see it.  5)  The presence of a statue on public land does not establish a religion.  6) It is an insult to the veterans who erected it.  7) To be fair, scripture and statues would have to be removed from public lands all over the country.  (This is what they want.)  8)  This country was founded by Christian men on Christian principles, those who find that offensive should leave.
     In the ensuing flurry of editorial letters came one from Butte theorizing that the reason snow storms have been diverting around our area is because the Jesus statue is unhappy over being evicted.  Butte, which boasts a huge statue of Mary called "Our Lady of the Rockies", was hip deep in snow.  I appreciated his sense of humor, but now I am beginning to think--what if?  It would hardly be the first time God used natural forces to show his displeasure.  Besides the Biblical accounts, my cousin, who attends a conservative Lutheran church in a liberal association, said that at the first conference in which they tried to endorse homosexuality, a wind storm came through and blew down the tents and tables set up to serve the participants.  During the Minneapolis conference, at the moment the homosexuality policy was approved, a freak tornado hit the hosting church and tore down the steeple.  When it came to rest, Jesus was hanging upside down from the cross.  I don't know if that was God showing disapproval or Satan putting his stamp of approval on the proceedings, but I don't have enough faith to believe it was a coincidence.  It is a dangerous thing to claim some act is God's judgement unless it is specified in scripture.  That audacity has led to all sorts of atrocity. And I don't believe God will punish local farmers and forests for the sin of the atheist "cheese heads".  I'd like to think it is punishment enough that they live in Wisconsin.  Still I wonder whether the skiff and the scoff and the ski hill are letters from the Editor.