I thought the house was on fire the other day when the storm alert came across the television to shout out the warning of impending damaging winds, hail, heavy rain, thunderstorms.... The created emergencies of weather world are fascinating. Once an exclusively winter experience, every out-of-the-ordinary weather moment now merits the ranting horn of the emergency alert, the unintelligible aerial map with its splotches of danger here and there, the time frame when Charter customers will be without cable or Internet, and the rodeo clowns of weather world.
At the same time the forecasters are reminding us that we are small in this enormous world governed by uncontrollable natural forces, these guys are out there to testify to the indomitable human spirit. "Your sneakers will fill up with water if you come out in the hurricane today....The wind is so strong it blew my hair off...The company van just got sucked up in the tornado, but, golly kids, I'm still here...." They tell us we'll survive.
This is not an important lesson, though. The ranting horn offers that. It says, go outside and look around at the flowers that might not be here in a few hours. See them as they are because they might blow away until this time next year when, if a storm does not come, you might take the time to enjoy them.
Our fascination with the weather is good for these lessons: you're small and you're here for a little while. Look around, love it, and be a part of it. For a little while. Set your life afire as if it were holy incense. Be the world, and breathe it in.
0 Comments
Thanks for being here.