When the summer days have been hot and humid for a long time, we always welcome a good thunderstorm. You know how it is that we feel in our bones that sense of an impending storm coming. Then we note the changing skies as billowing clouds accumulate on the horizon and soon cover the heavens.
I especially recall the skies a few years back, which were breathtaking , in their before storm appearance. Huge, and fluffy clouds which were backlit with a peach orange glow from the setting sun sent me rushing for my camera. Photos can never capture the moment in time that we wish because the moment is not only what we see, but what we feel.
A good thunderstorm with lightning sweeping across the sky, also releases nitrogen from the deep roots of alfalfa, I once read, and the atmosphere changes. Lightning has been spectacular lately shooting from varied directions, both vertical and horizontal. It is God's theater in the sky reminding us of a power greater than ours.
After the storm passes, and the welcome rains have fallen, there is a quality of freshness and energy released that fills our senses with exhilaration. We feel happy and alive with renewed energy and hope. The rainbow that often appears is the reminder that all is well with the world. No pot of gold there, but a promise of continuity in an ever changing world.
In life, we have those stormy skies and warnings sometimes ,when things seem so bleak and threatening but we must take heart. There is always hope and a way to solve all problems if we reach out to loved ones and to God. Like the gathering clouds that foretell an approaching storm, we can know that after the storm passes, there will be an awakening and renewal which nurtures and heals.
Let us endure the storms life may bring us and know that instead of a rainbow, there will be for each of us a bright new day, a promise of tomorrow.
