In the morning, the snow is beautiful, dressing bare branches and evergreen boughs alike in thick white finery. Later, the wind will arrive and fiercely transform the landscape. Now, I feel safely enclosed. Then, the vista will become wide and open and exposed.

Storms are like that. Changing from rage to respite and then roaring again. Some branches will come down, perhaps evens some trees. Those that are older can topple, no longer able to withstand the wind’s strength. Yet even those that are in their prime can be uprooted.

If I am rooted in God’s mercy, the storms of the world cannot destroy me. And if I am uprooted, it will be by the fierce wind of the Holy Spirit and then I will be carried by the breath of God. Perhaps to be planted in a new landscape. Perhaps to be transformed.

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the mercy of God for eve and ever.
Psalm 52:8