Glimpse of God for the week of April 28, 2024

Our spiritual weather conditions.

As I reflect on this glimpse and how the weather across the nation is and has been unseasonal to say the least,  I realized that, we as God’s greatest creation settled in the very midst of His creation, are like the weather conditions that surround us. We go through the thunderstorms in our life where the thunder and noise of our surroundings get too loud and then the rain of other’s worries, concerns, stresses shower upon us. As God’s instrument of presence, maybe as a parent, spouse, caretaker, we sometimes feel as if we just experienced an avalanche of emotions as we are present to our children, spouses, family members, community members, neighbors and even the stranger, as they experience life and its many challenges. We sometimes are freezing cold because we have been hurt and are very wounded, and at other times we are experiencing a heat wave because we have allowed  and have been embraced by the love and warmth of our God and others, and we at times can feel as if we are in the midst of a hurricane, a whirlwind due to stresses, concerns, things beyond our control and we don’t know how to seek refuge and surrender to God so that He can keep us safe. We cannot escape the weather. We cannot escape God. We cannot escape our self. We can run from these, we can hide, we can cover up or we can stand before God and others as our bare self, but in the end, God sees us as we are and unconditionally loves us as we are. He lovingly and patiently wants us to be our best self, the person He created us to be and have the potential to become, in the midst of His creation, and not apart from it.

The weather that we are in the midst of and cannot run and hide from can be a reflection of our relationship with God, and how we either run towards or run from Him, seek to feel the warmth of His  love or cover our self up with shame, guilt, self-abasement, and doubt. Like the weather, we can be prepared or take our chances, we can prepare our hearts for God in prayer or we can move on as if it doesn’t matter. We have no control over the weather, only how we deal with or respond to it.  It can be harsh at times: thunderstorms, flooding, showers as well as refreshing: the rain and sun helps things to grow, and is refreshing on our face like a summer rain. The sun can be a source of growth and relaxation; summer times at the beach, but it can also be cause of death for those who have trouble breathing during a heat wave.   We can decide that we don’t want to deal with it (snow, sleet, cold, ice) so we move to a warmer climate, or we can decide that we want it more often, so that we can participate in more skiing, ice skating, and sledding. The weather can kill and destroy lives and people’s livelihood like hurricanes, tornados, floods, but it can also bring people together during the aftermath.

The seasons can hold a vast variety of difficult days that can consist of extreme heat, cold, rain and heat waves as well as a great deal of heavy winds and rain with tremendous flooding conditions. Although having air conditioners may help deal better with the heat, it can also make those who are older stay inside more days in a row then they normally would. The heat can make being outside difficult and can cause worry and concern because of the cost to run an air conditioner. The heavy winds, rains, sleet and snow can make it difficult for driving, for those who are employed outside to do their work, and for the electric company, to keep power on.

So… as I begin this glimpse, I ask you, how do you deal with the various weather conditions, their impact on your daily life and where is God as you try to cope? Are you able to hear God’s gentle voice, soft whisper in the winds, through the sunshine, rain, cold and heat? Although the winter didn’t cause too much difficulty for us in this part of the state, can you remember when, after the last challenging winter, or the heat of summers past, your emotional state was on the verge of going bonkers because you didn’t know what to do as you found yourself stuck inside or at a spiritual place that you didn’t want to be? Do you get tired of listening to others complain about the weather as you were trying to maintain a positive attitude? As you reflect on the past winter and these past few new weeks of spring, have you been able to be in communion with God? Do or did you find yourself avoiding time with Him or spending more time with Him?

Were you able to see God in the clutter and noises of the cold winds, rain, sunshine, the complaints, the unexpected and constant presence of others around you? Do you see God in your frustration?

Now that is spring, still reveling in the Easter season, are you able to see and enjoy the beauty of the newness, the colors, the growth that surrounds you? As there is more day light to behold, can you see that  as a sign from God, more day, life giving light to lead and guide you?

Although a few weeks ago we did experience an earthquake, this spring I don’t think we will experience any hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, typhoons, or wildfires, yet we can experience them in our spiritual life. In this area, during the summer we can experience heat waves and severe thunderstorms in the winter we can  experience snow, sleet, hail, and blizzards, but with our spiritual life we can experience any and all of these at any time. Sometimes we can and are prepared ahead of time and other times we are taken by complete surprise. If we listen to the meteorologist, we can prepare for the rain by carrying an umbrella or if we listen to God, when it comes to the storms in life, we can decide to get wet and allow the waters to cleanse us so that we can be transformed, reformed and conform to His holy will.

Our spiritual life and the weather conditions are very similar. We can experience a thunderstorm outside of ourselves and in our spiritual life, we can feel the storms of life, family, work, community, where we can’t see in front of us and are afraid to go back. The winds and rain can be a source of inspiration if we choose to stop and listen to God’s gentle voice and whisper. With heavy snow, it is difficult to walk in, and with our spiritual life it is similar in that we can go within our self and walk with God as He speaks to our heart, or we can choose not to. With the sun, we can choose to walk in its light or we can hide from its dangers. With the Son of God, we can choose to walk with Him the light and warmth of His love or we can choose to avoid Him and fall into the danger of self-centeredness and control.

As with the weather and as with God, there are some basic truths that we cannot deny or escape from: the weather is what it is, the sun will shine, the rains will come, the winds will present them self, and God is everywhere in His creation. We cannot run, hide or escape from Him. As the sun permeates our being so does the warmth of the Son of God’s love. He is within us, in our hearts, no matter how much we try to avoid him. The winds are his gentle voice and the rain is opportunity and invitation for renewal and reconciliation, cleansing and refreshment. The tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods of our spiritual life are when things are overwhelming, and we get caught up in our life challenges, struggles, and crosses, and they become like wild fires that spread quickly and are beyond our control.

But do we believe that they too will pass? This week let us look at the weather conditions of our spiritual life and see how we can best prepare for them with God.

SUNDAY - “W” The Wind

The wind can be refreshing if it is a gentle wind or fearful if it is a wind that can carry you away. With our faith life, if our heart is rooted in Christ, our hands are holding onto God’s, and our feet are walking in His path, there is no wind that can carry us away.  When God speaks to us through a gentle breeze, we can listen to Him or dismiss and ignore Him. Sometimes when we experience life’s winds, I believe that it is when God is speaking louder to us so that can hear, listen and choose to follow His will as He speaks to our heart. He knows our hearts and He knows that we want to do what is right and best, but He also knows our weakness and the challenges of the world and how they pull us away. So when you feel the winds of life pulling you away from the voice of God, choose to hold onto His hand and       keep your feet steady for the ground that you walk on is Holy.

FOR TODAY: Honor the ground that you walk on as holy ground, and those that you walk with as God’s instruments, His hands, holding yours so that you can overcome the winds of the world, and embrace the voice of God as He speaks to you as a gentle whisper or a loud call.

MONDAY - “E” An Earthquake

Not being a meteorologist here, but for simplicity, I will use this definition of an Earthquake as the sudden and violent shaking of the ground, sometimes causing great destruction.

OK now as for our spiritual life, our spiritual earthquakes, my question to you is what sudden or violent upheaval of your foundation has occurred? Is your foundation built on rock, sand or cement? Do you waver in your faith; whereas you feel as if you go from believing wholeheartedly to doubting more, not being in communion with God, to only praying only when you need something? Is your foundation that which your house is built on, the temple where God dwells and has dwelt since your baptism, built on the faith as it has been revealed to you through your parent’s, family, friends, community, the sacraments, Worship, the Holy Spirit? Or is it built on the lies, and deception of the world as it tells you that happiness lies in your possessions, your wealth, your education level, your social status?

A spiritual earthquake is not meant to cause you damage and harm, as much as it may be to open your heart and mind to the truth of God and how only by living in that truth, can your foundation be strengtened and firm and not be like the sand; hard to walk on and get our bearings, or cement; no openness to change or to be changed.

For today, if you have experienced a spiritual earthquake, or are in the midst of one, instead of falling under the sudden destruction of your foundation, ask God to hold your hand and keep your feet steady so that whatever needs to be destroyed, that which is keeping you away from God and his Truths: That you are His beloved child, His greatest creation, loved unconditionally, and that there is nothing that you can ever do or say that will make Him love you less, be destroyed, so that your mind, heart and spirit will be restored in His love, peace, compassion and mercy.

TUESDAY - “A” An Avalanche

Not being a meteorologist here, but for simplicity again, I will use the definition of an Avalanche as an event that occurs when a cohesive slab of snow lying upon a weaker layer of snow fractures and slides down a steep slope.

What is our spiritual steep slope? What are we doing that can and will affect our spiritual life in a very negative way? Is it staying away from the Church, avoiding prayer, holding a grudge, being revenge filled, hating our brother or sister, turning inward and hating our self because we think that God couldn’t or doesn’t love us because of our sins and weaknesses? In any of these, God wants us to know that there is no reason that our slope continues to be steep. He wants us to know that He understands us and knows our hearts better than we do. That He is waiting for us to come back to Him. The slope may be steep and difficult to walk alone, but with God, He will take us by the hand and walk with us to a place where the ground is level and smooth. Smooth not being without challenges, but rather with God so that the challenges do not cause us to trek alone.  Doubts and the world make us weak in spirit so that when other things come along that seem better or a quick fix, we take them. Once the devil knows our weakness, He will never stop tempting us, but the good news is that God knows our hearts and He will never stop loving us.  He will love us through our weaknesses and temptations, and He will bring us through them so that we can look back and see how our better self emerged and that we stand strong on our holy ground.

For today, look at one weakness or sin that you feel is making you walk a steep slope. Seek God’s grace to listen to Him as He tells you that in your weakness and sin, His power, grace, compassion, mercy is reaching perfection in you. In your humility and contrite heart, your weakness is becoming a source of strength because in and through it, you are seeking God’s help so that you don’t fall under the avalanche of self-doubt, or feeling that you are unlovable or unforgivable.

WEDNESDAY - “T” A Thermometer

An instrument used to measure temperature outside. Ok I think that you will figure out where I am going to go with this as it applies to our spiritual life.

We look at the thermometer and that helps us to decide how we will dress: If it is below freezing, we will put on sweaters or heavy coats before we go outside, so that we will not get cold. If the temperature is high, we will wear as much modestly as possible to stay cool and not get overheated. In many cases we decide what activities we will participate in according to the temperature.

So.. what is your spiritual thermometer telling you? Is it reading a high number where you are warm or hot or is reading a low number where you feel cold and chilled? If God had a thermometer in His hand, what do you think the temperature is telling Him about you?

If God had a thermometer in His hand and you are in communion with Him; living the best you can and trying to be your best self and live up to your potential, I believe that temperature would be very high because you are absorbed in the warmth of His great love for you and honors you for your choice to live and witness to that love. You are His greatest creation, loved unconditionally and His beloved child, there is no reason that His thermometer would read any less than the highest it can be.

It is we who think that we are too cold, that we don’t pray enough, that we are the worst sinners, that we don’t deserve His love. We think that we are less than what He expects us to be, thus we are not able to recognize how this goes against His truths for us.  The love that we hold for God, others and self is the love that only God can give us and He has. Love grows from God. It is his grace that allows us to love more, beyond our imaginings, beyond our self, to and for others and God. God’s love is a warmth that covers us and permeates our very being. Look at your love. Look at those you love. Look at how your heart has been expanded in love as you have grown in your relationship with God. Look at you have been able to love when it was or is difficult. Look at the love God has for you and how you have shared that love with so many: your parents as they aged and became more dependent on you, your siblings as you have grown and matured and gone in different directions, your spouse, your children and grandchildren, your religious community members, the stranger and the friends. Love is a warmth, a gift, a grace that God invites us to share with others. Love is not too cold or too hot. It cannot burn you or make you freeze.

Rather is invites you to be open so that as you experience the various weather conditions in your spiritual life, you can receive and embrace the warmth of His unconditional, the selfless gift of His great love.

For today, look in the mirror and ask God to show you that He is not holding a thermometer or taking your temperature or measuring your ability to be loved by Him by what you do or don’t do. Your identity lies in being His beloved child, His creation and not in what you do. Don’t take out a thermometer and tell God that you feel too cold because you haven’t prayed or that you have sinned. HE knows all of that and yet you stand before Him, still.  Be open as He tells you that He not only surrounds you and covers you with His love, but graces you with the ability to love, be loved by others, by Him and that you love yourself as His greatest creation.

THURSDAY - “H” The Heat

The heat can be a source of enjoyment. We go to the beach to sit, relax, read, tan, or swim in the ocean. We open our pools in the summer so that we can enjoy the beauty of the cold water in the privacy of our back yards.  We open our pool so that Clover can have her swim dates with her best buddies and be refreshed from the heat of the summer. The heat can cause some stress as those who suffer from breathing problems must stay inside with an air conditioner running or a fan. In either case many worry about the bill that will come from the necessity of using the air conditioner. The heat can make the season of summer a source of enjoyment and refreshment. How does our spiritual life reflect the heat that comes or the heat waves that we encounter?

The heat in our spiritual life is the warmth of God’s love covering us so that we can feel it through and through from the tip of our toes to the top of our head. The heat is a gift from God to remind us that no matter what storms that we have faced, His love will never die or be diminished, end or be taken from us. Sometimes when we feel a heat wave coming and we think that we will melt, that God can’t love us that much, so we seek a cool place to go, we run, or we try to hide.

For today, when you feel the heat wave of God’s love covering you, stay still and know that it is God protecting you so that you will not get burnt and loving you as only He can do.

FRIDAY - “E” Endurance: patience, staying power, perseverance, and determination.

Endurance and all the various personal choices that we make to stand firm in the various weather conditions that our spiritual life may encounter can make us our best self, the best person that we can be, and have the potential to become. We can choose to give in and bury our self when the storms of life are intertwined with our life, or we can stand up to them with Christ so that we will not be overcome by them.

If you look back on any of the storms that have pounded your heart, mind and spirit, or the avalanches that have caused you to run or move quickly away, or the earthquakes that have shook your, thought to be, strong foundation, can you recognize that you are standing stronger now and are more determined not to be defeated?   Do you see the hand and love of Jesus as the apostles did on the boat? Yes, they were afraid and told Jesus as much, but in their fear, He loved them through to the calming of the sea.

He loves you through your fears, He doesn’t turn away from you because of them.

He admires and loves you for your ability to persevere, your self-determination, your prayers, your patience with others during the difficult times, your resilience, your flexibility, your stamina and your desire to carry your cross despite the storms, and not run away because of them.

For today, thank God for the gift of endurance in all its forms.

SATURDAY - “R” The Rain

Rain comes in many forms; there are rain showers, thunderstorms, scattered showers, rain drops, misty rain and its raining cats and dogs, whatever that means, in all its forms it can symbolize a need for cleansing, renewal and refreshment. Rain can cause major flooding as well as be a source of nourishment for all crops to grow and provide nutrition for everyone.  Rain can help those who garden feel as if they struck gold, and those who own car washes, shutter. In any case it rains and we need to endure the rain in whatever form it comes.

As with our spiritual life, we can have showers that might symbolize our need of cleansing from significant guilt, anger, bitterness, resentment, shame, or low self esteem before God. God sends us showers not to drown us, but rather to cleanse us so that we can walk with our head held high, wet but high. We may experience little rain drops that can symbolize that we need refreshment so that we don’t walk that slippery slope and fall into the need for showers. We can experience a warm summer rain or a cold winter rain.

Our souls, our spirits an be in line with God and the rain drops can remind us that HE is always there to provide refreshment and reconciliation, peace and happiness. When it rains, we tend to be unhappy, yet we can look at it as a time to see God in the drops, call to mind His refreshing love for us and remind us of our baptism and how we were cleansed from sin and began our new life in Him.

For today, if it rains, go out and get wet, not too wet, but wet enough to call to mind how refreshing God’s love is and how we can always start over, one step, one rain drop at a time. If you carry an umbrella, see it as God’s warmth and love protecting you so that you do not get drenched in the worries and stresses of life.