Clouds got in My Way

This first month of the year, the sun has been conspicuous by its absence for the most part, and rain has been pouring down the narrow streets of the Alfama and filling and overflowing the drains far more than in previous winters. Now it’s nothing like Queensland or Rio has been, but it’s enough to get your average Lisboeta into a foul mood about the “mao tempo” . Sets me thinking about how sunshine and clouds affect the way we feel. Sometimes life is sunny, but more often than not it’s clouds that block the view. “So many things I would have done but clouds got in my way” sang Joni Mitchell 50 years ago (yikes, is it that old already).

But a lot of the times we need those same clouds, that carry sweet refreshing rain and break through in times of drought. More than that, the formation of those banks of wondrous clouds in the backdrop of the heavens is an amazing sight and adds a majesty and a sense of depth and perspective to the world. More than that, even though they might hide the sun’s face periodically, the light they carry, diffuses and reflects the continued presence of the sun’s life giving rays behind the bank of clouds and gives hope of future streaming summer days. Such was this awesome picture over the river from our balcony this morning.

Death and New Life

With the turn of the year comes the expectation that the old will give way to the new, and with that the idea that life emerges from death. We were down with the crowds in the park just after midnight on the 31st December as the fireworks lit up the night sky. It’s funny how people get excited about the countdown, and the popping of champagne corks - as though we could somehow banish the ghosts of 2010, the disappointments and failures, and start off the New year with a clean sheet. Of course it doesn’t happen like that, as anyone who has ever tried to keep New Year’s resolutions would know.

But there is something of a truth in the principle that the old needs to pass in order for the new to come forth. The seed falls into the ground and dies in order for the new life to spring up. The removal of the one allows the other to emerge and blossom. Joshua was aIready actively involved in leadership as the assistant of Moses, but it wasn’t until the death of Moses, that we find him coming into his own. “Moses my servant is dead. Now then .. get ready, with all this people, ... to GO.... And Be strong and ver courageous ... for , as I was with Moses, so shall I be with you.” (from Joshua Chapter 1)

2010 has died. And in these misty cold first days of January, fresh opportunities are springing up, the potential for new relationships is taking root, and there’s a whole year ahead in which to discover God, in which to serve Him and lead others, in which to express and declare and tell out the wonders and glory of Christ.