I am writing this in Cornwall just after storm Eunice has passed by on her relentless journey up country. We drove down to Porthcurno beach where we watched huge waves rolling in and producing a mat of surf in the afternoon sunshine. A couple of seals were fishing in the shallow water and seemed unperturbed to be interrupted from their dinner each time another wave came and lifted them up with great force.
Great storms are frightening while they last and the damage left behind appears as a cruel blot on the landscape. Our short journey from Mousehole to Porthcurno took us past at least one magnificent, ancient tree that had been uprooted only to be cut up for another use later. Thankfully we have not seen any damaged homes, for which much thanks.
Psalm 90 reminds us of God’s timescale, that it is on a different scale from ours. A thousand years is a blink, we are a mere twitch, a great tree just a half a blink. Despite that we trust this God who is equally part of the post-storm sunshine or the crashing waves and pure white surf and spray. Where the great tree stood suddenly the light has been let in and new life will germinate where in the shade seeds were dormant, waiting to play their part in the timeless story of nature’s round that can feel harsh.
There are strong views about human activities making extremes of weather more frequent. We cannot tell whether Eunice would have been tamer had it not been for the Industrial Revolution but we do know that natural extremes have been a part of the story of creation for millennia. We must not be complacent about the need to mend our ways but nor should we forget that ‘before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.’ [Psalm 90:2]. Am I alone in finding much to reassure me about God in the power of a storm, more, in fact, than depresses me about what we have done.
A Prayer
Ancient, timeless, everlasting God, you created great power as part of creation and all nature is bound up in interdependency. Whether the rain falls softly on the furrows or threatens to wash me off my feet I know that you are God, and I trust you. Help me to relax in my humble adoration of you before the power you wield because I know it is not against me, but for me, in the long view of eternity. Amen.