We talk much about the weather here in New England. A boring subject in general, maybe, but not in the Northeast. This winter especially, has been a blast! Today the sun is shining but weather here is fickle. Who knows what tomorrow or even the next hours will bring? Hopefully, no more snow. We haven’t broken any records, snow-wise, but this winter is right up there with some of the hardest. We are looking for spring!
The thing about the weather is that it just is. On a daily basis it comes. Sometimes we can prepare for it Sometimes we can work with it. Or escape it. Or enjoy it. Or be devastated by it.Here in New England we cope. In winter, life shuts down during our worst storms, then, for the most part, people go about their daily lives in ways that never cease to surprise me. I can look out of my window and from the way our driveway and street appear, think the world has closed down. Then if we manage to get to a highway, we find things humming along. New Englanders are a hardy lot. And yet, there are those on whom harsh weather takes a serious toll.
I have never really thought much about weather before. As I do, I realize there are layers of consciousness that come to mind. There is my immediate and personal experience of weather. There is my awareness of how others in my environment are being affected by weather. I also know through the news and personal contact with family and friends that weather is happening in other places: flooding in the mid-west, an earthquake in Australia, tornados in Tennessee, ise storms in Texas.
Then I remind myself of the weather that does not make the news. Not all weather is problematic. The weather helps crops grow, provides an environment for enjoyment. The atmosphere gives us air to breath and sinshine to nourish our bodies and souls. The moon and weather move the tides.
If I go deeper, I have to admit that weather is happening on a scale beyond my parochial awareness. Someone is paying attention to what is happening to polar bears and penquins, to birds, and ice caps. Someone knows that global warming is a reality and something we all need to pay attention to if we are to protect our planet and all that has life on it. So, there are ways in which we do affect the weather!
Now we get to unseen basics. The weather is something in and of itself. The weather is not an “act of God.” But “acts of people” do impact weather. By now, thinking about these things, I wonder what God has to do with any of this. In my heart, as I peel off yet another layer, I sense God holding this pulsing ball of life we call our world in loving hands. The old spiritual says it, “He’s/She’s got the whole world in his/her hands.”
The thing is, so do we. God and us, we are in this together. We can’t control the weather short term. God is with us as we use or cope with whatever comes. We do affect the weather long term. God is with us on the side of survival and well being.
Now I become aware that there is the external atmosphere, the weather outside, and the climate we create internally and in relationships, in our homes, our workplaces, our neighborhoods. But that is thought for another day.