under the weather

Looks like at least 1,000 miles of the eastern United States are under the weather. Me too. Feeling dis-ease today. Seeking calm to face the storm (and Sandy too). A different kind of storm, with the potential for a different kind of devastation, has been brewing for awhile - so it seems - and I didn't have TWC or Air Force hurricane trackers to tell me when to evacuate. Or, maybe I did but preferred denial.

Jesus talked about knowing how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but not knowing how to interpret the present time (Luke 12:56). I believe he was teaching about the art of honest attention and the consequences of selective blindness; choosing to see only that which aligns with what we already see. It's so tempting though, when life is spiraling like a sadistic Sandy, to pour every energy into taming what can't be tamed.

Facebook friend, Kent Burgess, has the gift of perspective (check out his photographs @ Faithfully Dangerous...). His words, too! His morning post is the spiritual equivalent of the Army Corp of Engineers shoring up a levy in the nick of time:

Mystery is one of the first presences that gets pushed out of life for we who live in these modern times. The focus gets set on progress and acquisition and survival through the accumulation of facts which leaves us trying to tame, through all kinds of frantic planning, the uncertain imagined future that lies ahead. It leads us to and leave us stuck in dull routine. 

But when a life awakens to wonder and becomes infused with its presence, it transfigures a life out of the dull routine that has left us numb and merely functioning in order to survive, and transplants us in a fertile soil where everything begins to feel intimate once again. And it is from this place of intimacy with all that is around us that we begin to grow in a healthy and natural way (Kent Burgess with permission).

Sandy isn't sadistic or malevolent. It's just a storm; a freaking, Frankenstein, of a storm to be sure, but with due disrespect to godtalkers who would have us believe that every natural disaster is god's judgement, they're mistaking the Creator for another god (Jeff Turner Photos).

I don't know what life will come from my unnamed storm, but for today - for this moment - I surrender my urge to tame and welcome the presence of Mystery. Can't say I'm not afraid, but I'm borrowing a line from this blog's namesake song, How Can We See That Far, and leaning into the mighty wind.

And the mighty wind that knocks us down

If we lean into it

Will drive our fears away

Amy Grant/Tom Hemby. Copyright © 1991 Age To Age Music, Inc./Edward Grant, Inc./Puxico Music (ASCAP), adm. by Reunion Music Group, Inc.