Clouds
I’m forever having to correct people who think that I’m from Portland, Oregon.
“No, the other Portland. East coast. Maine.”
However, with the weather we’re having lately, you’d be forgiven for mistaking my home for the Pacific Northwest (OK, maybe not Portland, but Seattle definitely). Looking up at the grey skies radiating light duller than the fluorescent glow of my desk at work, I can’t help but feel a little depressed. Bright, sunny days usually bring a smile to our faces, but the dark, damp days are little more than something to bear until the clouds clear.
This past weekend, I read something in Madeleine L’engle’s “Walking on Water” (see “Currently Reading”) that made me think a little differently about cloudy days. In one chapter, L’engle asks, “Is not the cloud a sign of God?” And of course, she’s right. The Jewish people followed God in a pillar of cloud. The psalmist and Isiah describe Him as “riding on the clouds.”
Ultimately, our emotions have no bearing on the reality that God is. And yet, I find it hard to feel “connected” with God unless the sun is shining and illuminating His creation. If the glory of the Lord appeared to Moses and the Isrealites as a cloud, perhaps the clouds are the most tangible sign of His presence.
Maybe I should feel closer to Him when the sky is consumed with clouds?
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