CLOUDS
The breeze rustled the pages of my journal as I wrote and I set my pen down and looked out toward the mountains. The clouds caught my attention as they danced across the sky; swirling in time to music that my earth ears could not hear. This thought began churning around and I was imagining the sound of this heavenly symphony thundering through the clouds as they moved. “What are you looking at?” He asked. I hadn’t heard Him arrive but I was so glad He had come and my heart smiled and moved closer to Him. “I was watching the clouds,” I said. I was secretly hoping He might let me hear some of the music the clouds were dancing to. But of course He knew my secret thoughts and He laughed. I love His laugh and then I wondered if that was what made the clouds dance and creation move, the sound of His voice and His laughter. Ahhh, what must it have been like when Father, Son and Spirit together created the universe; mountains, valleys, grass, trees, stars, planets and the first clouds. The breeze touched my brow and I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the sound of the Trinity pleased with the work of Their hands.
I opened my eyes again and continued watching the clouds. They had moved lower and were concealing the tops of the mountains; their shadows painting murals of light and darkness on the mountain sides. I wondered if it was raining or perhaps snowing on the mountaintops and I recalled the storm we’d had just before Christmas. It had been very cold and a storm had come and rain fell on the dry desert for a full day and night. How I loved rain and it was a rare treat so I relished every raindrop. Early the next morning my daughter and I left the house in darkness for our morning walk. We were chatting and keeping an eye on the sky for shooting stars enjoying the freshness of the recently rain washed air. As we walked through the park an unseen hand nudged the day and the eastern sky began to stir and turned various shades of purple, mauve and pink. As we walked past the lake with the ducks still sleeping and swans gliding silently over the water we turned west facing the mountains. The mountains rose up majestically in the dawn and all around them lay a midnight blue velvet sky with stars twinkling like tiny lights above them while the eastern sky grew brighter and unveiled what the clouds had hidden from view; the mountains wore a blanket of white. It was breathtaking.
Later that morning I along with several others were taking a friend to lunch to celebrate her birthday. One of my friends commented on how much she disliked cloudy days but wasn’t it amazing that while the clouds hid the mountains God was doing all of this (she motioned to the snow covered peaks). She laughed as she said that there must be a story there and I should write about it. She hadn’t known that clouds had already been in my thoughts a great deal and I tucked her observations into a corner of my heart to ponder and add to my other cloud thoughts. During lunch as we celebrated our dear friend, my thoughts turned to previous birthdays she had celebrated, birthdays with her husband. He wasn’t here for this birthday; God had taken Him home after a long battle with cancer. Children left without their dad; a wife without her husband and friend. “Clouds”, I sighed to myself.
Now I sat with my journal in my lap and watched the clouds on the horizon as they continued to build and grow darker and hide the mountains. I wanted to see; to know what was going on behind them. Would they bring rain or snow or would they simply stay awhile and then move on as silently as they had arrived. My thoughts turned to family and friends who were facing clouds of their own. Clouds of sickness, death, financial uncertainty, children wandering in clouds of confusion, clouds of strife, separation and even divorce, clouds of abandonment and abuse. “Clouds,” I sighed out loud.
Then as if to remind me of His presence I heard His voice whisper, “I AM in the cloud.” I moved in closer to Him as He opened His Word and He spoke to me from Exodus 19:9 Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud…” I was quiet a moment and softly said, “I have always loved clouds. All kinds of clouds: the big billowy kind that look like you could take a nap on them as they float lazily across the sky; the dark thunderheads that rumble as lightning flashes through them. The thin wispy puffs that look like pieces of cotton when you’ve stretched them thin and can see through them. I have always liked clouds. But Lord, right now thinking about world clouds that come into lives for no reason we can see; they engulf us and seem to hide You from us; those clouds make me unsettled.” I finished and turned my eyes back to the clouds over the mountains as their shadows continued to dance on the mountainside.
Then He who loves me drew me very near Him and there in the stillness He reminded about the time He prayed in the garden under the shadow of the cross shaped cloud. He had prayed until He literally sweat blood; He prayed for another way if possible and yet He prayed for God’s will to be done and not His own. I looked at Him and noticed the thorn scars on His brow which in the shadowed light of clouds seemed more pronounced and I thought of Him hanging in agony on the cross as His Father turned His face away and He cried from the depths of His soul, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?” I wondered about the disciples and Jesus’ friends who stood that day at the foot of the cross. They must have felt so sad and frightened and alone as Jesus breathed His last and the cloud of death engulfed them and took their beloved Jesus from them along with all their hopes and dreams. When the clouds seemed darkest and the storm raged about them; behind it all God was working out His plan with precision timing and perfection. Three days later as the clouds of grief hung thick and heavy Mary Magdalene went early to the tomb and it was there as the eastern sky was just waking up and revealed with breathtaking beauty that Jesus had walked out of the tomb; the stone rolled away; the cloud of death lifted.
He drew my attention to Acts 1:9-11 and He read it to me. After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. Men of Galilee, they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”
I sat quietly as His Word soaked deep into my heart. He asked me, “Diana, what do you think about clouds now?” I looked at the clouds over the mountains as I replied, “They fill me with wonder.” I was going to continue my thought but when I turned back to Him He was gone though I knew He was always with me. I looked out at the clouds and wondered if today would be the day He would return. As I sat quietly watching the clouds a poem suddenly began to take shape and I wrote it down and left it on the steps outside my hearts door with a note, “Lord, thank you for talking to me about clouds. I’m looking forward to the day you ride in on the clouds to take me home with you. I wrote you a poem about clouds. I hope you like it. Love, Diana.
CLOUDS
Clouds hung in the distant sky,
They seemed to dance on cue
Casting shadows on the mountainside
Painting pictures of every hue.
They sat upon the mountaintops,
hiding the tallest peak.
Their beauty cloaked in mystery;
shrouded in grayness bleak.
The wind blew. The rain fell.
The tempest became so cold.
The storm raged on through the night,
Obeying what it had been told.
But as dawn kissed the morning sky
And the stars put out their light.
What the clouds had secretly hidden from view
Became clear in the sweetness of morning light.
As the sun peered over the eastern sky
Creation’s breath seemed to be stolen away
As the sun cast its light on the mountain peaks
Their secret announced to the day.
For what once had been shrouded in grayness
Concealed by the darkness of night,
Was revealed in breathtaking beauty
Lovingly wrapped in a blanket of white.
When clouds move across my horizon
Hiding the Savior’s dear face
I remember in whom I have placed my trust
He is Truth and He is Grace.
When storm clouds obscure what He is doing
His grand purpose from me concealed
I remember the morning is coming
Secrets once hidden will be revealed.
Sometimes life brings heartache and pain
Cloaking my heart in the darkness of night
But He whispers He’s weaving a tapestry
To be displayed in His glorious light.
When the Son appears in the eastern sky,
His bride coming to claim
His hand will lift the cloudy veil
As creation praises His name.
For what once had been shrouded in grayness
Concealed by the darkness of night,
Is now revealed in breathtaking beauty
Lovingly wrapped in His garments of white.
Later that day I saw that the poem was gone and there was a note there tucked in the corner on the steps of my heart and it said, “Dear one, I’m looking forward to coming for you and I can’t wait to show you what clouds look like from here. Great poem! And then He noted a verse from His book and I read it over and over again until His Words turned golden in my heart never to be forgotten.
12 We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
1 Cor 13:12 (MSG)
An original Conversations at the Well
By Diana Morgan
January 26, 2009
The breeze rustled the pages of my journal as I wrote and I set my pen down and looked out toward the mountains. The clouds caught my attention as they danced across the sky; swirling in time to music that my earth ears could not hear. This thought began churning around and I was imagining the sound of this heavenly symphony thundering through the clouds as they moved. “What are you looking at?” He asked. I hadn’t heard Him arrive but I was so glad He had come and my heart smiled and moved closer to Him. “I was watching the clouds,” I said. I was secretly hoping He might let me hear some of the music the clouds were dancing to. But of course He knew my secret thoughts and He laughed. I love His laugh and then I wondered if that was what made the clouds dance and creation move, the sound of His voice and His laughter. Ahhh, what must it have been like when Father, Son and Spirit together created the universe; mountains, valleys, grass, trees, stars, planets and the first clouds. The breeze touched my brow and I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the sound of the Trinity pleased with the work of Their hands.
I opened my eyes again and continued watching the clouds. They had moved lower and were concealing the tops of the mountains; their shadows painting murals of light and darkness on the mountain sides. I wondered if it was raining or perhaps snowing on the mountaintops and I recalled the storm we’d had just before Christmas. It had been very cold and a storm had come and rain fell on the dry desert for a full day and night. How I loved rain and it was a rare treat so I relished every raindrop. Early the next morning my daughter and I left the house in darkness for our morning walk. We were chatting and keeping an eye on the sky for shooting stars enjoying the freshness of the recently rain washed air. As we walked through the park an unseen hand nudged the day and the eastern sky began to stir and turned various shades of purple, mauve and pink. As we walked past the lake with the ducks still sleeping and swans gliding silently over the water we turned west facing the mountains. The mountains rose up majestically in the dawn and all around them lay a midnight blue velvet sky with stars twinkling like tiny lights above them while the eastern sky grew brighter and unveiled what the clouds had hidden from view; the mountains wore a blanket of white. It was breathtaking.
Later that morning I along with several others were taking a friend to lunch to celebrate her birthday. One of my friends commented on how much she disliked cloudy days but wasn’t it amazing that while the clouds hid the mountains God was doing all of this (she motioned to the snow covered peaks). She laughed as she said that there must be a story there and I should write about it. She hadn’t known that clouds had already been in my thoughts a great deal and I tucked her observations into a corner of my heart to ponder and add to my other cloud thoughts. During lunch as we celebrated our dear friend, my thoughts turned to previous birthdays she had celebrated, birthdays with her husband. He wasn’t here for this birthday; God had taken Him home after a long battle with cancer. Children left without their dad; a wife without her husband and friend. “Clouds”, I sighed to myself.
Now I sat with my journal in my lap and watched the clouds on the horizon as they continued to build and grow darker and hide the mountains. I wanted to see; to know what was going on behind them. Would they bring rain or snow or would they simply stay awhile and then move on as silently as they had arrived. My thoughts turned to family and friends who were facing clouds of their own. Clouds of sickness, death, financial uncertainty, children wandering in clouds of confusion, clouds of strife, separation and even divorce, clouds of abandonment and abuse. “Clouds,” I sighed out loud.
Then as if to remind me of His presence I heard His voice whisper, “I AM in the cloud.” I moved in closer to Him as He opened His Word and He spoke to me from Exodus 19:9 Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud…” I was quiet a moment and softly said, “I have always loved clouds. All kinds of clouds: the big billowy kind that look like you could take a nap on them as they float lazily across the sky; the dark thunderheads that rumble as lightning flashes through them. The thin wispy puffs that look like pieces of cotton when you’ve stretched them thin and can see through them. I have always liked clouds. But Lord, right now thinking about world clouds that come into lives for no reason we can see; they engulf us and seem to hide You from us; those clouds make me unsettled.” I finished and turned my eyes back to the clouds over the mountains as their shadows continued to dance on the mountainside.
Then He who loves me drew me very near Him and there in the stillness He reminded about the time He prayed in the garden under the shadow of the cross shaped cloud. He had prayed until He literally sweat blood; He prayed for another way if possible and yet He prayed for God’s will to be done and not His own. I looked at Him and noticed the thorn scars on His brow which in the shadowed light of clouds seemed more pronounced and I thought of Him hanging in agony on the cross as His Father turned His face away and He cried from the depths of His soul, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?” I wondered about the disciples and Jesus’ friends who stood that day at the foot of the cross. They must have felt so sad and frightened and alone as Jesus breathed His last and the cloud of death engulfed them and took their beloved Jesus from them along with all their hopes and dreams. When the clouds seemed darkest and the storm raged about them; behind it all God was working out His plan with precision timing and perfection. Three days later as the clouds of grief hung thick and heavy Mary Magdalene went early to the tomb and it was there as the eastern sky was just waking up and revealed with breathtaking beauty that Jesus had walked out of the tomb; the stone rolled away; the cloud of death lifted.
He drew my attention to Acts 1:9-11 and He read it to me. After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. Men of Galilee, they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”
I sat quietly as His Word soaked deep into my heart. He asked me, “Diana, what do you think about clouds now?” I looked at the clouds over the mountains as I replied, “They fill me with wonder.” I was going to continue my thought but when I turned back to Him He was gone though I knew He was always with me. I looked out at the clouds and wondered if today would be the day He would return. As I sat quietly watching the clouds a poem suddenly began to take shape and I wrote it down and left it on the steps outside my hearts door with a note, “Lord, thank you for talking to me about clouds. I’m looking forward to the day you ride in on the clouds to take me home with you. I wrote you a poem about clouds. I hope you like it. Love, Diana.
CLOUDS
Clouds hung in the distant sky,
They seemed to dance on cue
Casting shadows on the mountainside
Painting pictures of every hue.
They sat upon the mountaintops,
hiding the tallest peak.
Their beauty cloaked in mystery;
shrouded in grayness bleak.
The wind blew. The rain fell.
The tempest became so cold.
The storm raged on through the night,
Obeying what it had been told.
But as dawn kissed the morning sky
And the stars put out their light.
What the clouds had secretly hidden from view
Became clear in the sweetness of morning light.
As the sun peered over the eastern sky
Creation’s breath seemed to be stolen away
As the sun cast its light on the mountain peaks
Their secret announced to the day.
For what once had been shrouded in grayness
Concealed by the darkness of night,
Was revealed in breathtaking beauty
Lovingly wrapped in a blanket of white.
When clouds move across my horizon
Hiding the Savior’s dear face
I remember in whom I have placed my trust
He is Truth and He is Grace.
When storm clouds obscure what He is doing
His grand purpose from me concealed
I remember the morning is coming
Secrets once hidden will be revealed.
Sometimes life brings heartache and pain
Cloaking my heart in the darkness of night
But He whispers He’s weaving a tapestry
To be displayed in His glorious light.
When the Son appears in the eastern sky,
His bride coming to claim
His hand will lift the cloudy veil
As creation praises His name.
For what once had been shrouded in grayness
Concealed by the darkness of night,
Is now revealed in breathtaking beauty
Lovingly wrapped in His garments of white.
Later that day I saw that the poem was gone and there was a note there tucked in the corner on the steps of my heart and it said, “Dear one, I’m looking forward to coming for you and I can’t wait to show you what clouds look like from here. Great poem! And then He noted a verse from His book and I read it over and over again until His Words turned golden in my heart never to be forgotten.
12 We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
1 Cor 13:12 (MSG)
An original Conversations at the Well
By Diana Morgan
January 26, 2009
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