mother nature

'leisure is a form of silence,

not noiselessness. 

it is the silence of contemplation such as occurs when we let our minds rest on a 

rosebud, 

a child at play, 

a divine mystery, 

or a waterfall.'

-fulton j. sheen

a few days ago i watched as hurricane ike hurled itself at my home in houston.

so far on this trip i have felt a huge amount of movement internally:

emotionally, physically, psychologically, spiritually...

but i was thrown off balance by the out-of-control feelings i got 

watching that hurricane,

worse than the suffocating feeling i sometimes get right before i travel here alone.

i watched, horrified, as swirls of green, yellow, red, and orange slowly traveled,

and spent hours online clicking the 'refresh' button on weather sites.

i saw friends' statuses on facebook change from humor around the hurricane,

to devastation after when they really wondered whether their friends were alive.

i waited, almost in panic, to hear from my family and friends as the storm passed over the little dot labeled 'houston'.

finally i called home and spoke to a few people and was assured everyone was okay.

it was the first time i've heard their voices in over two months.

i have several friends who have lost absolutely everything.

my father's building in houston-the chase building-had all it's windows blown out.

people are still waiting to have food, baths, and electricity and may be for weeks.

i'm still processing through just how powerful the anxiety of the past few days has affected me,

and even though most of houston still lies in ruin,

i'm just glad the storm has passed and clean up can begin.

.

two days after watching the hurricane pummel houston,

i went on a day trip with the berry family over to wales to visit a waterfall.

it was breathtaking.

we stood at the bottom of the fall and looked upward,

and then climbed the mountain and were able to look downward.

me, being as stubborn as i am, decided that i need to get a photo going straight down the fall.

this required me to crawl across the fall...

and, being clumsy as well, took a tumble in the chilly waters.

it was hilarious, and i got the shot i wanted once i finally made it to the other side.

.

she is a funny one, that mother nature.

sometimes we curse the winds and rain,

and other times we stand in awe and reverence of the beauty.

i experienced both of these within days of each other.

i am thankful for both-

thankful that i could be challenged once again for more movement within me,

and thankful that i could see waterfalls-something some people never see in their whole lives.

perhaps it's true, that to the depth we feel pain is to the height we feel joy:

'who do you think 'spoke and it happened'?

it's the master who gives such orders.

doesn't the high God speak everything,

good things and hard things alike, into being?

and why would anyone gifted with life complain?'

-lamentations 3:37-39