Such a pleasant morning, a light breeze is cooling the front porch and pushing the clouds along their slow travels. The wind chimes are holding steady waiting to sing with a stronger breeze. The yard is full of songbirds, several cardinals feeding their young. Father Sky has sketched a different sky canvas in every direction I look.

Looking north I see the dark purple thunderstorm clouds racing along in the breeze, joining hands with other dark clouds, getting ready to drop their silver rain drops. Looking south I see the beautiful dark blue of a summer day’s sky, dotted with fluffy white clouds, the buzzards riding the wind currents, circling high on their winding staircase. Looking east I see the different colors of vanilla and gray in the overcast cloud curtains blocking the heavens from view. Looking west I see thin white cotton candy clouds, stretching out like pulled taffy. “This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it,” Psalm 118:24.

Oldest brother came for a morning visit and we sat on the porch talking about our raccoons, our squirrels, our dogs, our gardens, our songbirds, our children, and our grandchildren. He picked a few tomatoes from my garden when he left. My tomatoes are doing well producing tomatoes but the plants look pitiful, burnt up from the heat. We had no rain for so long now the extra rain is making the tomatoes crack. Still delicious, I just cut around the cracks.

Came in the house after my brother left and the clouds rushed together producing a loud down pour of rain drops, flooding my sidewalk. The wind rattled the wind chimes into a loud storm symphony, the bamboo started dancing, and the songbirds hurried to hide. The sunflowers are bowing down closer to the ground but Mother Nature will stand them back up tall and straight. The rain has stopped now and left an overcast sky. I don’t see today as gloomy but as a day full of respective tranquility. The muted colors of gray and purple give my mind a slowness and a calmness that bring on wondrous memories of days past.

I watched a beautiful movie this afternoon, A Rumor of Angels. Loved the way the movie ended. Really sad in a few places but was thought provoking about how we all feel about accepting the death of loved ones. Sentences read in the movie from a soldier’s journal on the battlefield to his mother said, “The soul leaves the body as a school boy jumps from a school door, suddenly and with joy. There is no horror in death.” Remember how exciting the last day of school was? We all wanted to jump with joy and run home. Gonna do some pondering on those sentences.

I saw so many different clouds today — early morning fluffy white, sun kissed clouds; dark purple clouds of afternoon’s bursting thunderstorms; and the gray colored cloud menagerie of the evening’s overcast sky. Scripture uses clouds to signify the presence and glory of God and the light of the Holy Spirit. Luke 21:27 reads, “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

Noah sees a rainbow in the clouds, pillars of clouds lead the people of Egypt through the wilderness, Moses was covered by clouds on Mount Sinai, and Jesus ascended to heaven on clouds. Clouds water the earth just as the Holy Spirit waters our hearts with God’s grace and love. God puts a bright spot on every dark cloud. He brings light into the storms of darkness and sweeps the clouds of doubt from our lives.

Watching the clouds can teach us to slow down and stay connected to life. We can see God’s power in the majesty of the clouds. We can feel his voice in the cloud’s booming thunder. We can see his love and grace in the sun kissed clouds of summer afternoons. The clouds are glorious and full of Biblical magic. You look closely at the clouds and you’ll see God’s gospel written on them.

“Never lose hope. The darkest clouds precede the loveliest rain!” — Avijeet Das