The days have grown hot and stifling. It feels like I am living in the tropical version of the old standard, Summer Time. The cotton fields may be missing, but the flowers and orchids are doing just fine. For those that do not think that Singapore has seasons, this time of year is a reminder. We may not have snow and ice, yet there are distinct changes.
In the intensity of an afternoon, I looked north and watched a dark cloud visibly grow. I soon realized that as it grew it was also getting closer! The wind through the apartment began to pick up, howling the corners as if to warn me. Initially I thought it was a typical afternoon storm that can show up a random throughout the year. As the wind reached a new level, it carried a mist into the house, letting me know that this was not the ordinary. The simultaneous enveloping lightening and thunder crack rippled through the floor as a definitive signal. Mother Nature wanted to make a statement.
I stopped to pay attention. Nature’s elements were moving in furious harmony. It was as if I was alone in the clouds. Nature’s pent up emotions were being released with a wild abandoned. As I began to accept the intensity, a natural sense of peace settled on me. I was witness but the elements were not directed against me. From my position of safety I had a front row seat.
After an hour or so, the darkness passed. The emerging sunlight reminded me of rebirth and renewal. Even though the fury of the storm was still frighteningly real, Hope was tangibly real. The words of an old writer echoed in the back of my mind; “God’s thunder sets the oak trees dancing a wild dance, whirling; the pelting rain strips their branches. We fall to our knees – we call out.” (Psalm 29.9)
Statements are interesting; one is free to do with them what s/he wants. In this case, I felt invited to embrace Hope. I hope this embrace never ends.
