Walked Penelope tonight just minutes before darkness set in. The sunset was a glorious watercolor wildfire in watermelon red, the sky all ablaze behind the black silhouettes of the old oaks and massive magnolias. Whispers of thin clouds above the horizon were brush stroked in a pinkish orange, so briefly beautiful. Mother Nature is quite the artist but her paintings are fleeting.

We had a good rain early afternoon with booming thunder and lightning. I was sitting in my reading chair, Penelope asleep on her pillow when a clap of thunder made us jump. I dropped my glasses and Penelope ran under the bed. I know my vegetables and flowers appreciated the silver showers.

I was wondering about thunder and did a little research to see what purpose thunder serves. Thunder is important, serving as a crucial warning sign of lightning. If you hear thunder you are close enough to be struck by lightning. Actually thunder is a by product of lightning. I found this fact really interesting — lightning helps to keep the Earth and the atmosphere electrically charged. The earth is negatively charged and the atmosphere is positively charged so the lightning transfers negative charges from the atmosphere back to earth. Lightening also serves as a natural fertilizer dissolving nitrogen into the air. That’s your science lesson for today.

I’ve always wondered if the great biblical flood began with lightning and thunder. Did it storm for 40 days and nights? Did torrential waves of water rush over the landscape? Was the ark tossed around by the rising floodwaters? The floodwaters covered the earth for 150 days. Noah and his family must have been frightened in the dim light of the ark. I have a thousand questions I’d like to ask Noah about all the animals on the ark.

Biblical scripture relates God’s voice as grandeur and magnificent, booming over the vastness of the earth, resonating through the natural world. We read in Psalm 77:18 of God’s power and majesty being compared to a storm. “The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.” In Psalm 29 we read, “The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.”

I think God speaks subtly, softly, and quietly, too. Scripture also refers to God’s voice as a “still, quiet voice.” Oswald Chambers wrote, “The voice of the Spirit is as gentle as a zephyr, so gentle that unless you are living in perfect communion with God, you never hear it.” I think we can hear God’s voice in the soft breezes and in the harsh thunderstorms. I hear his voice in the songbirds’ symphonies and the giggling laughter of my grandchildren.

I think we have spiritual experiences hearing God’s voice through our prayers and moments of quiet silence when our hearts are open. God also speaks to us through the scriptures. We sense his voice as he guides us through life. Hebrews 4:12 states, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

God speaks to us in many ways. We hear God’s words through the scriptures, through our prayers, and through other Christians. We hear him in nature and through our conscience. God’s voice brings us peace. God promises to answer our prayers when we listen to his voice. “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life,” John 5:24.

“God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.” — Mother Teresa