When I was child, January 1 was the one time of year I could stay up late without grownups reprimanding me. They were nice to us all day. Especially if we stayed outdoors.
And we did. We ice skated and built massive snow forts and pelted each other with snowballs.
One year, we built the world's greatest snow fort, complete with three tunnels and windows you could poke your head through just in time to be plastered by a snowball. The fort was so big I think it caused an eclipse over all of Saskatchewan.
Recently, a fellow Canadian eclipsed our fortress. Clint Masse and 12 fulltime workers took 6 weeks and used 150 semi-truck loads of snow to build the world's largest snow maze in St. Adolphe, Manitoba, claiming the Guinness world record.
"At first," he said, "I thought I was a little bit crazy."
But his wife, Angie, said, "Why not?" So he did. It's over 2,700 square meters, which in yards seems roughly the size of Australia. This maze is amazing. The walls are 6.5 feet tall and 2 feet thick. It takes 30 minutes to walk through, depending on how often you stop to warm yourself by a fire, or how many incoming snowballs you encounter.
In 2022, Clint added a cool feature: a church with a 20-foot steeple. You might say the frozen chosen can sit on snow benches, admiring the ice pulpit, and "stained glass" back wall made from blocks of ice. There are no Sunday morning services yet, but some plan to renew their vows there, maybe put the icing on their marriage.
I'm a little envious of Clint. I think we kids could have topped him if we'd had trucks to bring snow in. But I was eight, and they wouldn't let us drive until we were ten.
And we weren't interested in mazes; we wanted security-because about 500 kids lived on our block and were constantly attacking us. A maze wouldn't do. We wanted a fort, a sanctuary, some shelter, a safe harbor.
It occurs to me as a new year arrives, that a place of refuge sounds more inviting than ever in an icy world where storms of uncertainty blow. Maybe that's why Psalm 46 allows me to breathe a little deeper. See if it does the same for you.
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; He will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; He lifts His voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see what the LORD has done . . . He says, 'Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.' The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."
This we know: Snowballs will come and the best forts will melt, but God will be with us through it all. Happy New Year, my friend.
Phil Callaway is an author, speaker, and radio host. Visit him at philcallaway.com.
