In northern regions when winter spreads its white mantle over the land, do we sometimes look back with regret at the bright warm season of summer and long for the return of spring? Perhaps we envy those who live in a temperate region or those who seek a warmer clime and remain there until the miracle of spring appears. Christian Science reminds us, however, that God is everywhere. We, His children, are forever in His presence, whether mortal mind calls the season summer, autumn, winter, or spring.
Mary Baker Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 374), "Heat and cold are products of mortal mind." If we find it necessary to dispel a sense of fear or suffering caused by cold or heat, we do so by the realization that temperature is mental, not material, and that cold and heat are conditions over which we can claim dominion and exercise spiritual control. The winter season, for instance, need not be associated with hardships, suffering, or epidemics of disease. Every season has its peculiar beauty, usefulness, and spiritual significance. Mrs. Eddy writes (ibid., p. 240), "Arctic regions, sunny tropics, giant hills, winged winds, mighty billows, verdant vales, festive flowers, and glorious heavens,—all point to Mind, the spiritual intelligence they reflect."
Do we look with apprehension at the winter season? If so, then it is fear and dread of the rigors of winter that must be overcome. In such a case it may be helpful to think of winter in a more spiritual light. When God answered Job out of the whirlwind He said (Job 38:22), "Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail?" May not this text signify that there is a spiritual lesson to be learned from the snow and hail? The real "treasures of the snow" are spiritual. The Scriptures associate snow with purity. For instance, in Mark we read a description of Christ Jesus as he appeared at the transfiguration, and we are told (9: 3), "His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them."
