The storm is rolling in…


I’m sitting on the front porch -  alone - the dogs and hubby are out for a walk around the pond- I’m somewhat sequestered due to a bum knee……..And I notice:  the leaves on the trees are almost perfectly still, there are dirty grey clouds moving in from the south and west - every once in a while the sun breaks through and leaves patches of light on the ground.   And the air is more than just  very still - and clear -  no breeze - there is expectation is in the air.  The birds are not as noisy as they usually are -  just a few songs here and there - the pond frogs are quiet -  the rose petals are still -  the butterflies seem to be quieter than usual, hummingbirds are not flitting as they usually do at this hour - it  seems like the world around me is in that still expectation of knowing that something is coming, but it is not here yet…that still point - that moment between what was and what will be….

Kinda like waiting for the bride to show up at her wedding …  we went to the wedding of one of Glenn’s former students - she is 30 now not a kid anymore - the wedding invite said 6:00 is show time - but the world does not always cooperate -  at 6:15 or so it is announced that some of the family has not yet arrived - and so we wait and drink and chat and socialize and mingle and meander-  finally about 7:00ish we gather  and the wedding  takes place as  planned…. Not a lot of stillness here - but waiting - hoping for what is expected…………….

‘…Be still and know that I am God…‘  many of us know that verse, but how often do we really understand what it means?

‘Be still…’   how often do we really get to do that?  It is about Sabbath after all…but more than that - even creation needs to take a break  and stop - and wait and see what comes next -even if it is a big storm………….

‘Be still…’  our minds need to rest, our busy brains get overloaded - as do our tired and over worked bodies, especially when they hurt…

‘Be still…’   what do we expect out of the silence and stillness?  Healing? Comfort? A Word of hope? Answered prayer?  Maybe not even all of that … but the realization that God is everywhere - in the storm and the calm before,  in the mess of tragedy and the healing of community - in the quiet of the leaves on the trees and the still water of the pond -  in the noise and calamity of emotional distress.  We have a God that is everywhere at once - with us no matter what is happening.

‘Be still and know that I am God…’  always, everywhere, but unless we stop with hearts open and ears that are willing to hear, we will miss it - that something that is mystical and inexplicable and healing and comforting and both beyond us and in us at the same time,

The storm is rolling in - we can never stop it - but we can  ’be still and know…. ’
       (Photo courtesy of Microsoft Clip Art)