Winter Storms

The 193 vehicle pile up on I 94 caught national attention!  Likely yours, too!  It occurred at the 90 mile marker just 12 miles east of the Presbytery office in Portage.  Those of us who live here, know it is a dangerous stretch of highway.  My daughter drives that route on her work commute to teach in Marshall. The video images captured by stopped travelers on smart phones causes us all to pause and reflect.

Storms happen!  They are far beyond our control.  Winter storms are normal here in Michigan, and we've learned to motor on, accustomed to winter weather, or we might never get anything done.  Well...thank God, common sense prevailed and schools closed that day and my daughter stayed home!  The drivers of those 193 cars and trucks for at least a brief moment motored on through white out conditions...to a harsh surprise!

Storms provide an opportunity to slow down, call them spiritual opportunities to surrender our agendas.  During such times, we have the opportunity to yield and acknowledge our humble place in the broader scheme of things, or forge ahead as if we are in charge.  There can be consequences for speeding on as if all is normal and we are in control.  The images of fireworks, burned and crumbled semis and cars, and scorched roadway are harsh reminders to think again.

There are all sorts of storms in our lives, not just winter storms, which disrupt our agendas.  I remember a postponed return flight from Cuba when visiting a sister church there with a group of church folk.  One fellow traveler was a federal judge, who had a full day of cases scheduled the next day at court.  I thought he was going to have a stroke in his anger and frustration.  Then when he realized there was nothing he could do about it, we had a great two day extended visit in Havana at the expense of the airline!

Last week in the devotional book, Daily Feast: Meditations from Feasting on the Word, Year B, on the days before the tragic pile up, Richard Boyce, (a Phd. student at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, when I was a student there, and whose father was pastor of the Lakeside Presbyterian Church in Richmond, which I attended my second year there), for Tuesday wrote reflecting on Genesis 1:1-5, "This creation story is a way of holding onto hope when all signs of order in our lives have been destroyed and we must look out for signs of the creative work of God beyond our control.  If God is still creating order out of chaos in the succession of day and night, maybe God will one day create order once more out of chaos in the lives of God's people.  Hold on, and do not lose hope." 

For Wednesday, reflecting on Psalm 29, Marshal Wilfong, (a Phd, student at UTS I knew when I was a student there), writes, "There is no clue in this psalm why God's people need 'strength' and 'peace.'  Their predicament could be a natural disaster (flood, famine, drought, etc.)--or it could just as easily be political oppression, war, or exile.  The point is, it does not matter what the predicament might be.  At any time, under any circumstances when 'storm clouds' roll, God's sovereign power is available to bless and deliver God's people, to give them peace even in the midst of storms.  The same God who rules over the universe, whose 'voice' sends forth the thunderstorm, is the God of Israel--the One in whom they can trust and to whom their prayers ascend."

For Thursday, Douglas Ottati, (my theology professor at Union Theological Seminary), reflecting on Acts 19:1-7 wrote, "Baptism in the name of Jesus entails a divinely given reality, but this reality both empowers and disposes people to witness to God's deeds of power (Acts 2:11).  The gift of the Spirit in baptism sweeps people up into the dynamic of the Spirit and its expansive Way.  It drives believers to participate in the church's expansive mission.  It empowers them to witness in word and in deed to a universally inclusive reality."

Then for Friday, the day of the accident, Lee Barrett, (my wife's theology profession when a student at P.S.C.E.), wrote reflecting on Mark 1:4-11, "John, the epitome of the prophets, also points forward to God's imminent intervention in human history to confer a new hope to humanity.  Into the wilderness of our own broken lives and our own bleeding world erupts the promise of a baptism of new life."

How pleasant it was for me to be met by these voices of colleagues of my formative theological education via this devotional material!  How comforting to hear scripture's witness and the witness of those carrying forth our religious tradition!  How awesome to look up from the midst of our storms and believe God rides above them, redeeming them.  Hold on!  Trust God when waiting out a storm, whatever that storm may be!