I wrote in April about the unexpected tornadoes that ripped through Jackson. I reported that, inexplicably, my neighborhood was virtually undamaged, while others were completely torn apart. This was the lesson I tried to carve out from those storms:"The storm doesn't always touch down [on you]. But there's usually someone being impacted by some sort of storm, somewhere. Hold a good thought that those without roofs and without power are soon fully restored... and maybe this week can be a reminder that even when we're doing just fine ourselves, someone is always under the thunder."
I meant it as a metaphor for more than literal storms, of course. And while I don't disagree with the metaphor, re-reading it tonight I feel hopelessly pithy. (And not in the good way.) Thinking about all the actual challenges hurtling themselves recklessly into people's lives, who needs a metaphor? I'm frustrated by the weakness of it; the presumption that some sort of comfort or meaning could be gleaned from words. And yet... I am often far from those I want to hug in their times of trial, and my words are all I have to offer. And sometimes, even those fail me. So when I find some words, small comfort as they may be, I try to share them. And when I have none- well, luckily we're not always required to pray out loud.
Wishing, hoping, thinking, praying.... that though storms must come, there will also be peace and healing in the rain that follows. Maybe even a little laughter. Literally.
1 comment:
Amen.
Your words have given me comfort on numerous occasions.
Sometimes even if the words aren't exactly what we want to say, just that we are speaking says "I see you, I hear you, I care" loudly enough to help us weather the storm.
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