A Cornfield full of Snowflakes

Greetings Dear Readers

As I drove to church today with my Son and Daughter we passed several vast seas of still, silent, untouched snow. In summer these same seas pitch and wave with green swells of growing corn. Today they were reminders of the amazing beauty that is a Wisconsin winter.

I hear people complaining about the snow every day. Even when I am an hour into the ninety minute shoveling of my drive, I still love the snow. Consider for a moment what it takes to create the beauty that is a forty acre corn field covered in snow. Snowflakes are tiny crystals. In fact they are very tiny.

I asked as I drove, how many snowflakes there might be in a cornfield full of snowflakes. Everyone was silent. We were silent because of the beauty and magnitude of this simple bit of creation. We pondered how bleak and gray the world would be were it not for the beauty of snow. We shared a moment unity as a family in awe of the amazing nature of God to give us such unique beauty.

We also need to consider that God does not do it just for us. There are vast fields of virgin snow that are never viewed by men. He creates this beauty for his own pleasure and we are simple benefactors of his creativity.

I did some research and it is true that every snowflake is unique. If you do not believe me check out http://www.snowcrystals.com/ where they explain why it is true. This is also the source of the snowflake picture in this article. The point is that in forty acres of five foot deep snow I wondered how many snowflakes there might be.

According to Answers.com there are 62.7264 to the 6th power square inches to an acre of land. So forty acres of land would be 2509.0566 square inches times a volume of five feet of snow. Since each snowflake is about half an inch in length there are roughly 17,677 snowflakes per cubic inch. This means that we need to multiply ((2509.056 * 17,677) * 12) to the 6th power. The result is 532,251,153.593 to the 6th power. So a forty acre field filled with five feet of snow would contain roughly 1.2100861207361642205028562396134e+61 snowflakes. This is roughly 1.25 billion snowflakes per cubic foot of snow. I will ask the genius mathematicians in my life to forgive me if I am wrong somewhere in my calculations. Feel free to correct me.

Some will argue that the probability of them all being unique makes it impossible. I will agree with them when they test a significant sample and find two snowflakes that are alike. My point is that the vast still and silent seas of snow are an amazing witness to the creativity of God. Vast landscapes blanketed in snow are painted, pictured, and praised for their beauty. Individual snowflakes are captured, drawn, and cut from paper. I have rarely seen people decorate with individual rain drops or hail stones. From the singular to the uncountable level God paints winter with a beautiful brush that holds forth the promise that winter will end and the long sleep of grayness death in the world will melt away to daffodils and crocuses.

Visiting a Crystal Gallery
by Aramis Thorn

Silently the clouds crept across the sky,
Negating the brilliance of the haunting harvest moon.
Only the brightest of stars could I still spy,
While the cottony gray darkness still had rips and tatters.

Sending chills over my exposed face,
North winds begin to whip over the field fiercely
Offering me an invitation to retrace
What steps I have taken and return to my cozy home.

Something inside drives me to pursue,
Narrowing my focus to climb the hoary-frosted hill.
Only the higher field will give a proper view
When the dance begins in earnest.

Softly they begin their waltzing flight
Navigating their way through the winter wind,
Outstanding crystals of drifting delightful white
Whispering to me that God is still an artist

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a home owner. He brings new and old things out of his treasure store."