I get that people are not carbon copies of each other. I don’t even dislike those who take a different perspective. But I am not among those who like it hot. I like it cold. As I write we are in the midst of an early heat wave in northern Indiana. Record temps today and tomorrow, both in the high 90’s. And technically speaking, as I write it isn’t even summer yet. The blessing of living in norther Indiana is that while they may be intense, any heatwave will more resemble a heat ripple. That is, they don’t last long.
That some people could enjoy this is beyond me, but I suspect those same people feel the same about me. What annoys me, though I confess to enjoying to one degree or another, three of the four seasons, are those who insist they like them all the same. Had these people been a part of the Corinthian church you wouldn’t find them claiming allegiance to the Paul party, the Apollos faction or the Peter alliance but would have looked down on them all saying, “We are of Jesus.” “I like them all the same” is just too pious to be true.
In case, however, any of you are on the fence, consider these truths. First, the heat is draining. The cold is bracing. Second, the heat destroys ice cream. The cold protects ice cream. Third, the heat creates a miserably sweltering Independence Day. The cold creates a white Christmas. In the heat you cannot build an ice but in the cold you can build a fire.
My desire is that I would learn to give thanks in all things. The same Father who blesses with snow is the one sending the heat. And He only gives good gifts. But I find myself thinking the one good thing about the heat is that it makes the cold that much more sweet when it comes.
My ancestors lived in the north Atlantic, on the British Isles. I have the tender skin that comes with that territory. The skin on the top of my head must go without the protection of actual hair. Heat and sun are dangerous to me. For others, the thin blooded whose ancestors lived closer to the tropics, heat is what keeps them going strong. That said, technology backs me up as well. It’s true that when it is hot out one can come inside to the air conditioning. It is likewise true that when it is cold we can come inside to the heat. If your genetics, or circumstances put you somewhere in between, I invite you to join the some who like it cold. Go against the flow. In the coming days of the hot, look with me to the distant, but coming, days of the cold. Count down the days to the coziness of early gloaming, warm fires and well-worn sweaters. Let us show our warmth when the days come to give a warm welcome to Jack Frost, Ice Miser and Yukon Cornelius.