Clouds from the Bridge

Genesis 1:6
Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." And God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. And God called the expanse heaven.

Psalm 89:5
The heavens will praise Thy wonders, O Lord; Thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord?

Today when I was driving back from the church the clouds hung in a stunning arrangement in the sky above the bridge. There were so many of varied beauty that a question appeared "Would God paint a picture just for me to see?" Yes. I paid attention and looked longer.
Cumulus, stratus, cumulonimbus. The names I learned as a student came easily, but didn’t carry with them any definitions. These were just the kind of clouds you imagine sitting on in heaven but don’t often see. Big, puffy, white cotton-ball clouds, the kind that usually wear gray and carry rain, today came down close to the water. Their visit was not work related. They were on a social call.

The center seemed a large mass of hundreds of clouds some stripy, some fat, some lacy, some fully formed. Then I realized that it wasn’t one large mass, but layers and layers with holes here and there, through which I could see the ones behind and the sky higher up.

The sky was a blue just right for clouds like these, and though I can’t locate the sun’s position in my memory I know light shone down in wide, round channels. Where a cloud sat, blocking, light traced the edges. Below the water flashed and twinkled. Tiny mirrors of light, winking and popping up in circles, played like a school of fish who know the pelicans are not diving now.
Did God create these clouds for me? He created clouds in Genesis, and they must have been important because it was only the second day. Human form was not needed until the sixth, after the fish and the pelicans. Still, God is as much about set design as he is about the plot. So what purpose do these clouds perform this day? At that moment, and in that moment, there was no quick answer the that and other questions beginning to form. All I could do is stare at the picture splashed across the sky.

After a while, though, it dawned on me that, if light is glory in a created form, these clouds both exposed and withheld God’s glory. A cloud suspended in the midst of the light seemed formed by it. And in the center where the light couldn’t penetrate the cloud was darker, heavier. Similarly, I am darker in the places where I refuse entrance to His light and become heavy with holding it in. When it penetrates my shape is changed, and beauty results despite my tendency to bring rain. But that's the Sunday school answer--the one that appears after time to process.

The truth is the heavens praise His wonders. They don’t explain them. They don’t make practicable applications. They praise. They don’t praise how easy God is to read. They praise how hard it is to ever comprehend Him. They sing for joy that we don’t know what He means. No one bound to the earth can do what He does, or even always say for sure that what they see is really Him. We stare at the heavens and we wonder. And it is a beautiful sight.

Coffee Thoughts

A few years ago some FBCP women did a summer Bible study together. The major theme was moving toward God through positive attitudes. It seemed simple enough. However, we would start out talking about having a positive focus and pretty soon we’d be locked in an intense discussion about where God’s will stops and our sin begins. It amazed me then and continues to now how we try to study one aspect of the Christian walk and we keep bumping into all the same old stuff: God's will, His infinite mercy, His love vs. His sovereign law.

I was mulling this over when I pulled up to the Starbucks window around that same time, and I bought a cup of coffee, which isn't notable, except that they had just started printing quotes on their to-go cups. The one I found on my cup was from fashion designer Todd Oldham who among other things said: "An open, non-judgmental mind is the best tool for brewing creativity." I drove along sipping my coffee and thinking about Todd. His most recent creative contribution, besides apparently a book also mentioned on the cup, was a collection of sixties mod furniture for, of all places, La-Z-boy. I started feeling a little guilty because here Todd had said I wasn't supposed to judge and, not a minute later, I was thinking how tacky his furniture was and how his agent must have had a hard time getting him the coffee-cup gig.

That's when a thought hit me so hard that I almost stopped the car. I disagree! I disagree with Todd and the whole Hollywood line that suggests that a complete lack of boundaries fosters creativity. I think creativity grows best from within limits. Why do you need to be creative if you can just do whatever you want? And furthermore it seems to me that being creative is one of the best ways in which we reflect God's image. He's the Creator, and so we create. Consequently, it stands to reason that we would be most creative when harnessing ourselves within the bounds of God's law. And there it was. God’s law. I bumped into it again.

It’s an exciting time to be a woman at FBCP because your Women’s Ministries leaders are exploring their powers of creativity on your behalf. It’s easy sometimes as women to get trapped in thinking only of our limits: Too little time, too little money, too busy with work, too burdened by family, too little family, or what have you. The stage-of-life divisions of modern churches serve many fine purposes, but they also highlight our differences rather than our commonalities. Into this gap jumps your fearless Women’s Ministries team bringing you, among other options, the Women’s Retreat, Let’s Do Lunch, and The Walk, our revamped newsletter. They know that whatever divergent paths God has put us on individually, we all still need a to take a regular break, to eat lunch, and to know what’s going on.

This blog is another idea. It’s a monthly email in your inbox: an attempt to find God in and through all of our divergent paths. We offer it as an experience we can all share that won’t tax the already overstuffed calendar or the under-stuffed billfold. Hopefully it will be an encouragement that doesn’t add to your to-do list. Contributors will include Chaun McGuire, our newsletter editor, and me, Ginger Myers. Pat Evans has graciously allowed us to dip occasionally into her Honey for a Woman’s Heart. Hannah Evans continues the graphic design. We love feedback, so send us your own creative, caffeine-induced ideas.

If your coffee cup can add meaning to your life, won’t God mercifully do the same and for greater impact? Whatever teeny moments we give Him he will multiply long after the caffeine buzz has worn off. So grab yourself a cup of coffee or whatever else you prefer and enjoy the perks of being an FBCP woman.

And watch out for that to-go-cup theology. It’ll burn ya–no pun intended.