I wonder what first time visitors to these islands think when they run into the weather we are having now. This morning I woke up, as usual, a bit before dawn to begin Morning Prayer. The wind was howling with a hard rain. Furniture on the lanai was being moved around. It looks like the day could bring more of the same. Locals are complaining that we tourists may think it’s warm, but they are freezing their okole off (sorry, can’t add the diacritical marks for okole).
We’ve been visitors here for many years so not getting onto the beach today is no big deal. But what a disappointment for some. Enough disappointment to drive them to the anger of Jonah complaining to God about the heat, lack of shade, and the undependable bush that had given some for a short time. “They promised the tropics, I came for the tropics, I paid for the tropics and I want my money back!” Isn’t that a bit like saying, “I want the weather to do my bidding or I’ll throw a hissy fit?” Isn’t that a bit like the way we too often approach far too many events in our lives? Come on now, be honest; you know it is. Maybe it would be a good topic for Lenten discussion and meditation.
In the meantime, consider a somewhat revised portion of the Song of the Three Young Men (Apocrypha) that is a part of our office of Morning Prayer for Saturdays: “Glorify the Lord, every shower of rain and fall of dew, all winds and fire and heat. Winter and summer glorify the Lord, praise him and highly exalt him forever.”