We love storms. If we could, my family would run outside every time the violent clouds approached, racing to feel the drenching rain beat against our skin. We would stand still like a martyr, waiting for the lightening bolt to strike us with its deadly white heat. We long for the defining crash of thunder to slap our body down and leave us breathless. We are crazy like that.
But most of the people I know hate storms. Grown men and women run from them and teach their children to fear them. They shield their eyes and pull the covers up high. Fear grips the heart--fear of the power, I guess, the power to hurt, wound and destroy. Everyone prefers the sunshine to the rain. And, why not? Sunshine brings happiness and hope and new beginnings.
But, who said I can’t dance when life crashes in with deafening thunder and crushing rain? Maybe it lets me know I am alive if I feel the storm soaking into my clothes, my skin…and my soul. The thunder rumbles and shakes the earth beneath me. And there can be no doubt that the universe is beyond me. I am but one lonely body in the midst of millions. One heart shaken to its core by the crack of thunder, fired like a shot gun in this space where I stand. Circumstances surround me like dark, ominous clouds. And then, just as the blackness promised—just as I feared—the angry storm strikes out with a holy rage that cannot be satisfied.
And I,…I choose to dance. I raise my face to the sky and let the rain slap against me. I glide around and around with determined arms outstretched to embrace the storm. The wind whips my body down like a rag doll in the hands of an angry child. I crumble to the ground suddenly as lightning strikes, blinding my eyes and leaving me starring into white space. I am fully alive when I am in the storm, senses tuned to the powers that rage against me. I feel excruciating pain—a proof of life--a willing victim of God’s hand.
There will be sunshine again. But right now it is storming, and I need to dance!
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WOW! What an incredible entry on your blog site! Yes, a bit dark, but truthful none the less. Honestly, what it made me think of was people who are "cutters"...people who need to feel the pain, see the blood to know that they are still alive. It is a temporary relief from the emotional darkness that surrounds them...it is a way to connect their body and soul. It isn't good to be so disconnected. Our bodies need to embrace what is going on emotionally, spiritually, psychologically. So, dance in the midst of the storm and take the blows as they come. This I know, storms can't last forever. When the high temperature and low temperature collide, there will be a blast of thunder so terrific that one will not be able to stand under such intensity. Begin to count the distance between the blast of thunder and the strike of lightning....yes, the time gets shorter and shorter until the storm rages in all of it's glory, but then the time lengthens leaving behind the promise of a new day. If the storm comes during our waking hours we can see the promise left hanging in the sky. But, if the storm comes during the night, when only the moon is reflecting the sun, we see no signs of promise, no signs of a new day....so we wait for morning, we wait for the night to end. There is such hope...hope for a new day, hope for a new beginning. Know that just as Jesus was very present in the midst of the storm when the disciples thought that he didn't care, that he was sleeping; he is still present today, aware of the storms around us, aware of the wind, aware of the crashing waves....He is a God who does not slumber, nor sleep. He is ever present
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