Saving for a Snowstorm

 

“There’s ten inches of snow on the ground in New Orleans!”  My patient was clearly impressed by the amount of white goodness that had fallen in Southern Louisiana.

“I wish we got that much snow here,” I said.  “We got three inches a week ago and it seemed like it melted a couple of days later.”

“They have NO idea what to do with that much snow,” Robert continued.  “I heard they don’t have any snowplows and so they are sending in snowplows from places like Indiana to help out!”

“I guess it helps to be ready for something like that,” I said.  “Of course, it’s hard to think about buying snowplows when the last time they got this much snow in New Orleans was a hundred years ago.”

“You’ve just got to be ready for anything!”  My patient told me seriously.

“My experience tells me that the important thing when getting ready for a snowstorm is to buy a bunch of bread and milk,” I said.  “That’s more important than having a snowplow.”

Our conversation wandered off in other directions – more specifically having to do with his health, but I continued to think about it later.  There are many things in life that we need to be ready for.  Some of them are very uncommon (like snowstorms in New Orleans) and some are impossible to really be ready for.

When COVID moved across the globe in 2020, we discovered how poor preparations were for a pandemic.  I wonder how much better nations are prepared now.

In the book of Genesis, the story is told of Pharaoh.  Apparently, the king awakened one night having had a terrible dream in which seven skinny cows ate seven fat cows.  Uncertain of the meaning, he combed the kingdom for a dream interpreter until someone mentioned a Hebrew prisoner who seemed to have a gift in this direction.

So it was that Joseph came before the king and told the king that the next seven years would have amazing harvest with plenty.  Following that would come seven years of famine and want.

At this point, Joseph interjected a little wisdom of his own.  “Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt.  Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years. Have them gather all the food produced in the good years that are just ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s storehouses. Store it away, and guard it so there will be food in the cities.  That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come to the land of Egypt. Otherwise this famine will destroy the land.” (Genesis 41:33-36)

This advice amazes me when I read it because it is the opposite way that most governments function.  Few legislative bodies save for a rainy day.  Most spend the maximum amount that tax receipts allow and when that isn’t enough, they borrow from the future to fund present spending.

Many of us live similarly.  We live to the edge of our capabilities, but in terms of finances, but also time management and many other things.  Often it seems as though we are borrowing from Molly to afford the weapon which we use to rob Peter and finally pay Paul.

I wonder if we can hear the wisdom that Joseph had in our own lives.  There are some things we cannot really prepare for, but living our lives with a little margin can make a huge difference, even when it comes to dealing with a sudden southern snowstorm.