Thunder!

So, it's storming, and I absolutely adore thunderstorms. There is little I enjoy more than a full blown, house-rattling thunderstorm. Thunder and lightning always make me grin like a little girl. (Playing in the rain that they often accompany is also loads of fun. Just sayin') And Texas can do a good storm!

I love being able to hear the thunder rattle things in the house and crack loud enough to wake the dead (though, admittedly, three-o'clock in the morning is a less than ideal time for that), to see the lightning that will light up the room for several seconds even with blinds or curtains closed. I think it's because it's so powerful. Even though I can't touch it, and I can barely characterize it, I can feel it deep inside me - sometimes literally! The sound reverberates, but it doesn't just it my ear drums, it travels and hits me in my marrow.

As a kid, when we traveled from South Dakota to Texas or vice-versa, my sister and I would press our faces to the glass and watch the different kinds of lightning that webbed the Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma skies. We even had different names for different types, and would would rate them, compare them to each other, and just 'oooh' and 'ahhh' over them. (I still find myself getting distracted by the lightning and grinning foolishly at the thunder when I drive or am sitting around now).

It's funny, isn't it? Power isn't something you can touch, but it's something you can feel. It's not something you can hold, but it's something that can shake you. And it often accompanies other things. Sometimes, that is destructive, especially when two opposing forces meet (twisters, anyone?). Sometimes, though, it's refreshing, like the rain. Even if the rain comes down hard, and the wind knocks things over, the ground gets water that is needed for further growth. Rain is refreshing, and no less so (I actually think more so) when accompanied by the often startling and sometimes destructive forces of Thunder and Lightning.

I also think it's really cool to think that God is clothed in Lightning and His voice is like the Thunder. (Hmmm. It's also interesting that the Romans and Greeks thought that Zeus' main weapon was lightning, isn't it?)
It makes me shiver just to think about it. But what better description could there be? He breaks up the darkness, but can never be pinned down. He speaks, and His voice reverberates throughout the world, shaking things it touches. He is and speaks power.

So, I am going to go to mass now and listen to the voice of God in the scriptures, prayers, and thunder.

God bless! Stay safe if you are in the area (and if you're not!)