Storm Warnings
“Jesus also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens.… You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?’”—Luke 12:54-57.
I sit and watch a storm come up the beach in the early morning. The sun is out, with blue skies to the east, but the sky is grayer to the west. Clouds move overhead. Sometimes, this dark overhead carpet seems so close that I can touch it. Fishing boats return to port to weather the coming storm. Birds take shelter. The great blue heron moves inland. The pelicans are nowhere to be seen. The mighty osprey is the last to give up looking for one more meal before returning to her nest. A violent wind precedes and announces the pivotal event, almost horizontal driving rain.
Jesus reminds us that we see signs that indicate storms may be coming in our lives. Our children act out, or their grades at school drop. We get random hints that a project is not going well, but we are too busy to take care of that matter right now. Later. Too many other things going on. We remember how a particular food affected us in the past, but we eat it anyway. Our clothes no longer fit, but we do not change our eating, exercise, or lifestyle. We ignore pain, a sign that some body part needs attention.
The same is true in our spiritual life. Our prayer life seems dry. We cannot remember our dreams. We can no longer write. All we read appears dull and uninteresting. We think of every excuse not to attend corporate worship. We stop going outdoors. It is too hot. Too cold. Too sunny. Too cloudy. We stop talking with friends. We isolate ourselves.
In medicine, a sign is an outward or objective appearance that suggests what is going on—like the red butterfly rash across the nose characteristic of lupus erythematosus. On the other hand, a symptom describes something subjectively experienced by an individual, such as lupus fatigue or pain with a urinary tract infection, which requires some interpretation.
We are constantly given signs and experience symptoms in our outer and inner lives that can direct us. God never abandons us. We are called only to keep ourselves “in tune” to see and hear. Spiritual directors, spiritual friends, and spiritual practices are all gifts that can help us along this journey. They assure us we are not alone, and that a directional move or change in course may be needed in our outer or inner life.
My own experience, however, is that I am so much like that osprey, waiting until the very last minute before I surrender to something greater than myself.
patti martin