I think a lot of the beauty we fail to notice begins with the starts and ends of things. Sometimes we become so caught up in the center of the sandwich that we tell ourselves that the beginning is in the past and therefore not important and the end is too far away and therefore not important. But just like a beautifully wrapped present, there is a beginning end of the ribbon and an end that both serve an important purpose. 

I was contemplating beginnings and ends pretty seriously as I walked out into the cold evening tonight and for whatever reason decided to look up. And when I looked up at the parking lot lamp that was shining on the asphalt, I noticed a single white snowflake drifting down as if from nothingness. As I continued to stop and look up, I literally saw one and then two and then three and five and ten big pieces of snowflake joining the single snowflake I had seen falling in front of me. Though perhaps the smallest whimsy, I began to discover slowlyt that this was the first time I had actually seen a snowfall begin and it may have been one of the most magical moments as the church bells nearby began to ring at that exact moment. 

As I continue to move through this holiday season and beyond, I hope I always remember the moment in which I saw the snowfall begin and the gentle flakes drifting every so suddenly. Because every human snowflake we come in contact with and listen to his/her story has a beginning, every behavior has a beginning, every word we speak comes from some beginning even if that beginning is a mystery. When we think about that beginning we realize that there is always a purpose behind every personality, every action, every beautiful snowflake we are blessed to come in contact with. So just for a second, try to look up and catch the beginning and realize that the start of the whimsy can be more important than the whimsy itself. Every feeling of joy or pity or empathy or sorrow or generosity falls from somewhere.