Storms and Such

I ran into the damage caused by Friday's tornadoes on my way to church today. I was almost there when I ran into a road closed sign. After going the long way around and crossing a barrier that was open to local traffic only, I made it to church. Just past the church driveway the road was stacked with fallen trees. When I walked into the building it was dark and quiet. The power was still out. So we had church without electricity. It was a good service. Pastor taught on the Mercy Seat and we had before us a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. A man from Mobile Ala. has built models of the entire tabernacle and travels to different places sharing them. My grandmother was fortunate to attend a full scale replication done at the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola a few years back. I've seen some of the videos and it was really incredible.

Anyway

After seeing the storm damage I was glad we had taken everyone to the basement. Tornadoes are one of the three things I have nightmares about(the other two are snakes and large waves).
I remember with great detail all the tornadoes I have been near. When I lived in Florida we had hurricanes, Frederick being the defining storm of my childhood. When we moved to New Jersey we still got a hurricane(can't remember what that one was), and when we moved to Georgia we became acquainted with tornadoes. The year we moved here I had to sit out a storm at my middle school. Our bus was late, and when it finally arrived and we went outside, the sky was green. I had never seen a green sky before. It was pretty scary, as all of nature had also hushed. We were hustled back into the interior of the building and a few minutes later we could see massive hail failing and we could hear the wind roaring. Fortunately there was no damage to prevent our passage homeward, but there was quite a bit of damage elsewhere. It was not until my college years that we had several years of intense tornado seasons. One did major destruction one town over from my school. Pieces from a building were found in a lake 60 miles away. My mother was in the area at a retreat and her Miata had some serious hail dents in it. I remember having to take shelter in my dorm on several occasions. One tornado I was blissfully unaware of until after the event. I was off campus at dinner and was surprised to learn upon my return that a tornado had touched down not too far off. I just thought it was a stormy night. I remember that one because it was such a beautifully stormy night. I love to watch thunderstorms from a porch and feel the wind before a storm(I have been known to frolic in the approach of a storm). So it was really cool to take a walk in the aftermath. The sky was black and the wind was still gusting and the rain was blowing down from the trees. It was invigorating.

It is so easy to take nature for granted-to be oblivious to it. A storm demands our attention and requires us to be aware of ourselves and of God. I've never completely understood my own feelings at being in a storm. It is both a (for lack of a better word)primal feeling and a feeling of worship. When I see an afternoon thunderstorm approaching I make an excuse to walk outside to feel the cool wind and smell the scent of rain. I linger as long as I can. Overwhelming my senses and forgetting the mundane and rejoicing in the beauty of creation and in the Creator. It is one of the times when I feel most truly alive and most myself.