There is calm after the storm.
All of us have storms in our lives. While for most of us the day to day existence of mortality is like a gentle sea that softly moves us, we all seem to go through periods where everything seems to be stacked against us, where the very gates of hell seem to stand open before us.
I have heard those times described as a divine storm, where all that is good in the universe has abandoned us and we are adrift in a sea of entropy, with chaos our companion and sadness our siren.
I have been through these times, and doubtless you have as well. I think it is one of our ‘human problems’, something in our experience that unites us in a shared suffering that hopefully breeds an enlightening empathy.
When those storms come, it’s tempting to feel alone and abandoned. I think sometimes that is the purpose of a divine storm; to let you stand alone and test yourself against that which hurts you.
I have lived long enough to realize that rarely do those storms last. Even though I do not enjoy the time of a storm, I have grown enough through struggle to realize that after a storm, there is usually a peaceful calm.
In those times, I am able to reflect and realize that I have grown because of the storm; that my capacity and capability have been enlarged, and my concern for others has been magnified.
In short, while the storm is painful, it can make me powerful. It removes from me the excesses that hold me down, and reveals to me the strength and talents that will lift me up.
There is always a calm after the storm, and in that time, I realize I have become more.
The storm is my friend, and while it is here, I will embrace my friend.
And become.
Each day I share a picture that I feel connects with the words I share. Today I am blessed to be able to share a picture of my own taking. This was taken a few minutes after a storm had moved through our valley. The storm left a torrent of water on the west bound road I was driving, in the evening, into the setting sun. For a few minutes, I could barely see anything, and had to drive at a very slow speed, passing cars that had collided because the glare from the road had blinded them. Even though a storm occurred, the aftermath for me was a beautiful sunset. I share it today in the hope that it may give you encouragement through any storm you are facing. There is a calm awaiting you. My desire is that you find it at the right time.
-- Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings
Photo by Dr. Alan Barnes.