Winter Psalm

Praise be to God for winter
Bleaching the earth of green things.

Praise Yahweh, lord of the snow storm
Keeper of blizzard winds.

Praise him for frost and ice
Scourge of streets but glory of window glass.

Praise him for barren trees—elm, oak and birch
Their branches dressed in heavy white sheets.

Praise him for the lake’s shifting shine
And the rise of smoke plumes against the black sky.

Praise him for skis, skates and snowshoes
That mark the silent slopes with man tracks.

Praise him who brings the snow angels
Frolicking across roads.

Praise him who forms snow dunes
That swell and rise on frozen white seas.

Praise him all sleeping creatures
Fat, fur and claw.

Praise him all fluttering things
Wing, beak and crown.

Let all tongues and trees
And everything that quakes and breathes give praise.

Let all creatures fill the world with
praiseful songs to Yahweh.


—Eric Nelson