Seeing the Good (Weather)

This past week our area suffered from the effects of several tornadoes. While my town was not touched by the strong winds, many towns close by had immense damage. During the storm, I certainly knew what I wanted to pray for--my own safety, the safety of my children, the safety of all those around me, for, actually, good weather, the sort of beautiful, early summer day we enjoyed today.

Who makes the weather? In the aftermath of a storm, there is so much talk. Some talk about the "wrath of God." Some talk about global warming. Some talk about our crazy weather patterns, how we have changed the world, how we are now victims of a cruel Mother Nature.

I don't know. But in the past few days, I have been wanting to stay close to my original prayer, for the safety of myself, my children, all children and people everywhere that we may collectively SEE the good weather.

A few weeks ago, the world, at least according to one man, was meant to end. I do not find this sort of prophecy laughable, I find it historically intersting. People have thought, for the history of all human time, that the world would end on such a day--a Saturday, a day next week, in ten years, surely in their lifetime. I have also heard people say, on many occasions, that things in the world were getting "worse." And we hear that, of course, about the weather. The weather is getting worse.

Why are we all such doom-sayers? What is the appeal in that? For one thing, we could well be wrong. Yes, it is unusual to have a tornado in Massachusetts, but I learned we had one most recently in 1995--not so incredibly long ago. Is the world really in a worse place than it was ten years ago? Thirty years ago? Three hundred? I happen to think we have more peace now than ever before, more consciousness of kindness, more humanitarians, more hope, more spiritual thoughts and greater spiritual work. But ultimately, what I SEE is only a reflection of myself, my opinions, and my feelings about my own life.

I have had friends reflect to me a sense of doom about the world--while depressed. Those same friends, in a different state of mind, have such a sense of optimism about the globe.

I wonder if this can translate to our sense of the weather. Shall we just talk about the "terrible" state of Mother Nature? Or can we consciously, purposefully, actively and often SEE the good weather, anticipate a greater peace within nature, a harmonious relationship between humans and the earth we walk on? Let's not forget how powerful our thoughts are, how strongly they effect our lives, and let's not exclude even our thinking about weather, any more than we do our thinking about God, and the other great mysteries around us.

My husband said to me: "You could be picked up by a tornado and set down somewhere else without being hurt. It's the stuff--debris, pieces of car, futniture, house--inside the tornado that does the most damage."
What an interesing thought, that even a tornado could hold a sort of gentleness in the absence of our endless life accesories. Perhaps it's a useful metaphor as we go forward, to keep seeing the kindess in Mother Nature, and to keep clearing our own landscape of unnecessary and damaging thoughts so that we may accurately see the Good around us.