We pulled into the parking lot at Camp Vermilion and all the kids in our cars jumped out bursting with excitement for a week of fun. I was excited too. This camp on Lake Vermilion is a beautiful place, and I had my daily Bible lesson plans ready to share with the kids. And then in short order the sky turned dark at 4:00 p.m. and the rain came down like “cats and dogs” and then hail came with an icy drop in the temperature. My spirit was dampened and chilled for the next 22 hours of off-again on-again rain and cool breezes.
The week looked a little less promising. Kids ran from one thing to another, huddling close to any available fireplace. But when the clouds broke and the sun started to shine you could feel the energy level in all the people change. You could hear it all over camp in the riotous songs of birds. Then the wonderful scent of raspberry, moose maple, and linden added another dimension of joy to the collective spirit.
Discussion groups moved outside, games were planned for the soccer field. We all have experienced the same sort of disappointments and setbacks due to weather. Lucky for us we live in Minnesota where we have been taught, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes, it will change.”
Our experience made me think of people I have met who have experienced events in their lives which can roll in like a storm and perhaps then linger. Hopefulness and joy can seem dampened if not threatened. Sometimes these events are completely out of our control such as a loss one might experience. Many in our community have lost loved ones recently. Others have suffered a major health setback. Some may have lost home, work, or other security. Sometimes these events that darken our horizons are brought on by our own decisions which cause relationships to fall apart or employment to be terminated. An unfaithful decision can break apart families, darken many prospects. Futures can seem troubled, dark, stormy, hopeless.
The bright change because of the sun at camp made me think of a favorite psalm verse. Psalm 30:5b: “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”
I see all of life through the lens of faith in God. Doing so affords me the vision and perspective to see God’s involvement and strength in my life and the lives of others. We all have experienced “weeping that lingers for the night” and sometimes the “night” may seem very, very long. Nevertheless, in God we find strength to move into the new dawn with hope. With God a renewed light will shine in our spirits so that what had been dark can be brightened. Not that the consequences of our loss or decisions can be erased. We know that does not happen. But we know in God there is comfort, hope, forgiveness and life. We know that God can comfort us in our loss. We know that God can strengthen us to make amends to those we have harmed. We know that God can walk with us as we seek forgiveness and strive to be faithful in all things.
This week in worship we will hear the latter portions of Psalm 22. As you know, Psalm 22 in its first verse contains the remarkable expression of despair that Jesus quoted from the cross. On that exceptionally dark day in world history, we believe Jesus quoted this psalm not only because it so painfully fit the horror he was experiencing, but also because Psalm 22 does not end in despair but carries us back toward hope. It is a psalm that bravely faces the brutality that life and other people can throw at a person and brings that faithful one through the pain and desolation to an affirmation that even there God is with us.
Yes, God is with us even in the storms and provides us with an inner calm knowing that presence. Therefore when I think of weather, I am a Minnesotan – I will just wait it out! But when it comes to the storms of the soul, I am a Christian and I wait patiently upon the Lord who will comfort and guide us. May God’s light shine on all.
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month our contributor is Reverend Mark Ditmanson of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Grand Marais.
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