Clouds

What a wet summer it's been so far!  Looking out of my window this evening, all I can see over the housetops opposite is cloud - slate grey, rain-filled, louring cloud. We can get very depressed by clouds, can't we? ". . . but now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone" ('Both Sides Now').

That song, of course, reminds us that there are two sides to clouds, as to most things. On a bright and sunny day, clouds can be the threat of thunder and rain, or they can be just attractive and magical shapes against the blue of the sky: "Bows and flows of angel hair, and ice-cream castles in the air, and feather canyons everywhere, I've looked at clouds that way" ('Both Sides Now', again).

In scripture, clouds are rarely gloomy things. Clouds are associated with glory; the voice of God issues from a cloud, and Jesus at his Ascension is hidden by a cloud from the sight of his disciples. Clouds are signs of blessing, as a well-known hymn reminds us: "the clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head."

In a rainy British summer, it can sometimes be hard to see clouds in such a way. On the grey days of our lives, we can sometimes be tempted to lose hope, and to think that nothing will ever come good and right again. The truth is that while there may be times when we are unaware of God's love, and of his provision and care for us, we remain held in his embrace. However far from him we may feel we are, he watches over us and watches for us, like the father awaiting his prodigal son.

And rain is itself a blessing.  When scripture tells us that "rain falls both on the just and on the unjust", we might think in terms of bad things happening to good and bad people alike. Far from it: we are being told that both the deserving and the undeserving are alike the recipients of God's blessing. The same blessing is there for all, even on the greyest days: the challenge is what to do with it, how to use it, how to give glory to the Lord of mercy.