This past week we experienced high winds. High winds can create havoc. And for many, they did. Fortunately the weather service had given warnings 
that were helpful. We could prepare.
We could at least make sure that things were tied down or stored under cover. We could make sure our phones were charged, flashlights were ready and many provisions could be made for keeping warm…. some people with generators and some with fireplaces. .
The storms did blow through our area as forecast. The winds roared in the trees that line the path behind our TSJ home and headquarters. The rain pelted against the house. It was intimidating on one hand and thought provoking on another.
That night, I snuggled under the covers and listened. In part it made me feel so very grateful. After all, I was not in a high risk area. Not on the road. Not without creature comforts. Not battling the elements as a homeless person might or a family with only minimum protection against nature’s force.
Yet within my own soul I felt a bit like the weather. Tossed about. Churned up.
My heart was heavy for many people I know and love. Wisdom was nowhere to be found. Inner peace was replaced with pleas for guidance and laments over the state of the world.
But the weather served as a reminder that no matter what is happening within our lives – nature seems to provide a metaphor for our moods and offers wisdom lessons of its own.
Nature calls forth our deepest longings, fears, hopes, wonder, and both our tenderness and fierceness as well as our smallness and our grandness. In other words, it is a mirror for our souls. It unzips our secret fears and longings and exposes us to ancient truths and a sense of belonging to something bigger than ourselves.
Nature Offers Insights
Yes, nature teaches us time and again that there is a season or a time for everything. I knew this instinctively as a child. I am reminded of it now as an aging adult. This last windstorm reminded me of the power of nature to speak to us.
When we drove by the lake and heard it roar I was reminded that the water tells powerful and many faceted stories. Its beauty can range from awe inspiring sunrises and sunsets on serene glassy water to sparkling surface ripples that trip over themselves to stronger waves that call out to a sailor to come and set sail. And then . . . there are violent, threatening and roaring waves that would bring the heartiest of sailors to their knees. Nature demonstrates the place God has in creation for both the proverbial lamb and lion we relate to deep within ourselves.
The Backstory
When I was beginning my coaching business and pondering what to share with people for our shared journeys, I had an experience I have yet to fully understand. I know I have referred to this before in these letter blogs.
To remind you (and myself of course) . . . years ago I was soaking in a bath one evening and had a sudden inspiration … a thought intrusion … an inner voice that seemed to come out of nowhere. Now that I think of it… that describes the wind, doesn’t it?
The inner voice stated clearly and curiously …., “Go to nature for your answers.”
And it returned this week. The message came back in this storm.
Why? Perhaps because I needed it.
First, my eyes were drawn to the trees and the birds that I feed. Strangely they had suddenly stopped coming to the feeder. I believe they, like us, were preparing for the storm.
They were finding shelter. What kind of shelter do we need when our souls are tossed about?
Second, when the winds roared in the trees behind our house I looked out our bedroom window and pondered. Those trees took quite a beating. Their roots must be deep to withstand the gusts of 70 mile-an-hour winds. The roots were strong. An uprooted tree is sad to see. These trees I was watching are well nourished and remarkably flexible. A healthy, well rooted and well nourished tree can bend with the wind rather than resist it.
Flexibility in a tree is a sign of health and essential in a wind storm.
When we are healthy in mind and heart we too can bend in and not break break from life’s storms. Like the trees with healthy roots that nurture its growth toward the light, we must be rooted in faith and love so we can be flexible enough to endure – and rebound from – life’s strong winds of change.
The hills also speak to us – echoing messages of strength and grandeur. As a child, I met God regularly in the hills. They held many agonizing laments that my heart emptied in their presence. Much like Maria sings in The Sound of Music, I would stand in our backyard and look to the hills when I was lonely. Or troubled.
It seems, I reflected, that nature is impartial. It does not protect any animal or plant from tough times. But it offers resources for constant renewal. Even a fallen tree is useful as a haven for small animals.
So this storm made me think of the journey of life we are on. There will be tough and turbulent times. And there will be times of celestial celebration.
Finally, while staring out the window feeling my way through the wind storm outside from the inner view of heart and soul, what loomed large in front of my eye gaze were the large rocks that line the pond. They were not going to budge in a windstorm.
And as I remembered that the Lord God is my Rock.
My strength was renewed.
The birds have come back to the feeder,
new snow has fallen to cover the dirty snow,
and it is time to rest again in our Creator’s gift of life, love and connection with Him, each other, with the help of Nature’s wisdom.
May you, dear friends, also find solace, hope and strength for and within the storms of life.
.