Magnificence

Rumble, roar, a crashing like cymbals
drew me outside onto the verandah.

Oppressive record-breaking heat
and humidity gave way to a storm on the evening of the third day.

The springtime sun had just set behind black, ominous clouds,
throwing gold and fuchsia colors across greening grass and black treetops.

Dusky rims of cumulus lit up every few seconds with
paparazzi-like flashbulbs, circling my haven, my home.

I remember my mother's mother silencing my fear
as a three-year-old child when we lived in Seattle.

"God's angels are bowling," (in response to thunder);
"God is taking pictures of you, so smile," (explaining lightning.)

So on this evening I smiled. Posed. I giggled at myself
for being so silly.

Like a child I grinned, "oohed," and "aahed"
at God's pyrotechnics in the sky around me like it was the Fourth of July.

I also remembered recent studies in Psalms
with my friends.

"The God of Glory thunders..."
"The Voice of the Lord is powerful, the Voice of the Lord is majestic."

"Out of the brightness of His presence, clouds advanced
with hailstones and bolts of lightning."

"The Lord thundered from heaven,
the Voice of the Most High resounded."

The smells of sulphur and sun-baked grasses and
rain on hot asphalt filled my nostrils.

The awareness of God's display of His presence
filled me with joy...and trepidation.

My eyes beheld lightning bolt after bolt
in quick succession drawing ever nearer to my home, and I was nervous.

A pulsing blue-white spear thick as an American tornado hit the ground
on the other side of a pine tree grove just 100 yards from my Australian haven.

Immediately thunder crackled and rumbled
overhead and nearly split my eardrums.

My hair stood on end and I gaped open-mouthed,
clutching fiercely to my husband's arm while my lungs expelled a surprised whoosh of air.

In that split second I thought of
the apostle John's description of God's throne in Revelation:

"From the throne came flashes of lightning,
rumbles and peals of thunder."

And I wondered, "If this is majesty now,
what will it be like when He's really angry."

I hope I never know.