pure white

Talking about the weather is usually just small talk. But since a lot of my friends and family are from San Diego and LA, the seasons in Tokyo can actually be pretty exciting...last week it was snowing, and today I spotted the first signs of spring.

Actually, I've only ever experienced snow-fall in Japan, and I think it's beautiful. It really brings to life part of the Bible for me:

Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. -Isaiah 1:18

From my brand new Japanese Bible, that's: さぁ、来れ。ろんじ会おうと主はおおせられる。たとい、あなたがたのつみがひのようにあかくても、雪のように白くなる。ーイザヤ１：１８

I can't understand or fully explain this in Japanese yet. But, I love how the snow reminded me of how clean I am because of Jesus in my life. Alone, my life is extremely ugly and stained. However, through God's grace all of that is washed completely away.


OK, then approximately an hour after I wrote this stuff above, I learned a new Japanese character... 真. I learned two different ways to read this kanji, "ma" and "shin". Two of the words it's used in are masshiro (真白）and shinri（真理）、meaning "pure white" and "truth".