THROUGH THE EYES OF WONDER

I was visiting one of my “older” friends today and we were discussing, or so I assumed, physics. The exact thing that brought it up was the storm that was running rampant across Arizona today, dropping snow and significant rain.  And, yes, I know significant for us, is like nothing to the rest of America.  I won’t even go there.

But the subject was this.  If the clouds are full of water, which is heavier than air, what holds them up?  My immediate response was “God does”.  My friend’s response?   “How?”  And a great discussion ensued which left me wondering “How?” 

So of course I got on the internet to check it out.  Science is not my forte, after all.  I must rely on what real scientists have discovered.  So here is what I found.  Bear with me, please.

From Scientific American.  (The short version without radius squared and all that stuff.)

“Even though typical clouds do contain a lot of water, this water is spread out for miles in the form of tiny water droplets or crystals, which are so small that the effect of gravity on them is negligible. Thus, from our vantage on the ground, clouds seem to float in the sky.”

From Mental Floss

“Figure out how dense the cloud is. Scientists have measured the water density of a typical cumulus cloud (the white, fluffy ones you see on a nice day) as 1/2 gram per cubic meter—about a small marble’s worth of water in a space you and a friend could comfortably sit in. The density will be greater for different types of clouds. “

(So my friend Yolie and I can’t float, how does a cloud? And then the answer.. sheesh.)

“If elephants or donkeys or dinosaurs were hanging out in the sky, they’d fall. So how does a several-hundred-ton cloud stay afloat? For one thing, the weight isn’t concentrated in a hundred elephant-sized particles or even a billion marble-sized ones. It’s distributed among trillions of really tiny water droplets spread out over a really big space. Some of these droplets are so small that you would need a million of them to make one raindrop, and gravity’s effect on them is pretty negligible.”

 (And now we are elephants and donkeys and DINOSAURS??  Well, maybe my OLDER friends are dinosaurs, but I am not.  At least not yet. More like a donkey, but REALLY?)

This afternoon, after returning home and completing my “research”, the most glorious sunset with the most intricately woven clouds of all colors appeared.  There were dark clouds with flat bottoms, golden ones with red tinges, Orange ones, Dark blue and grey ones, and a glorious white one behind them all.  As I sat there viewing it in awe, it occurred to me.  I really don’t give a fiddle how clouds are held up there.  I know WHO holds them up and that is all that matters, and then it hit me.

The WONDER of clouds, the sky, the earth, Trees and plants.  Air creatures and water creatures and HUMANS…..

And I had my answer for my friend.   GOD DOES. 

Psalm 8: 3 -4  “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?” 

Wisdom from the ages.. About that opportunity...

I have been thinking about things that are going on, not only around the world, but also in my own neighborhood.  It brought to mind a story that a pastor once told. I can’t remember which pastor, and I am not sure if he plagiarized a plagiarism, but I thought that I would just to entertain you all and make a point. Here goes.

A man woke up one day to hear the sound of a sheriff’s bull horn as they drove by and announced that everyone needed to get up and evacuate because a flood was coming.  Drowsily, he went to the window and saw his neighbors fleeing to their vehicles.  He said to himself, “I can wait until all the cars leave, that way I won’t get caught in traffic.” So he made a cup of coffee and sat for a little while, then went out to start his car.  Unfortunately, he had left the lights on, and the battery was dead.  He stuck his head outside and looked at the horrific clouds looming on the horizon, and said to himself, “I don’t need to hurry or worry.  I will wait for the Lord to rescue me.” And with that he went back inside to enjoy his cup of java. 

A little later, he noticed the sheriff driving down the street with the bull horn, calling out to anyone who had been left behind.  They saw him and urged him to get in their vehicle.  He told them “No, the Lord is going to rescue me.”  And went back in for a second cup.

Not many minutes later, he heard the sound of rushing water, and when he looked outside he saw a wall of water rushing down the street. He knew he needed to take to high ground, so he went outside, climbed up a ladder and got on the roof.  Not two minutes later the rushing water came down, taking with it trees and automobiles and pieces of houses.  He was a little afraid, but he said to himself, “No, I will wait upon the Lord. He will rescue me. “

Just a few minutes later he heard the sound of an engine, and down the middle of where the street once was, came a boat with two men inside.  They called to him “Get in! We will take you to safety!”  But being convinced in his own mind that the Lord was going to complete a miraculous rescue, he called back to them, “No, I am waiting on the Lord,”  With that the men in the boat went their way looking for people who were willing to be rescued. 

It seemed forever that he had waited.  The water was up over the roof of the house now, and he could barely keep his footing. But he felt sure that the Lord would rescue him, so he prayed.  About that time he heard another sound, a helicopter overhead looking for survivors of the flood.  They spotted him and zoomed down and lowered a rope to him, telling him to tie himself to it and they would pull him up.  “No,” he said, “I am waiting for the Lord to rescue me.”   They pleaded with him to no avail, and then flew off to search for others who were willing to be rescued.  

Suddenly a huge wall of water came crashing in, and the man was swept away.  The water was so powerful that it ripped and tore at his limbs and he could not stay afloat.  As he sunk into the depths of the flood, he told himself, “The Lord will surely rescue me now.”  And with that he lost consciousness. 

He awoke to a bright heavenly light and all around him were angels and the sound of music more beautiful than any he had ever heard.  He got up, and found that his body was intact and he was wearing a beautiful white robe.  He began to wander, looking around and convinced himself that this must be heaven! 

About that time, the Lord appeared to him and he fell to his knees.  He looked up at the face of the Lord in awe and then a question came to his mind.  “Lord, when I was in the house, in the flood and underwater, why didn’t you save me?” 

And the Lord answered.  “I sent a sheriffs car, a boat and a helicopter.  What else did you expect?” 

And the moral of the story is:  When the call to evacuate comes, don't sit and think about it and remember, God works not only in unexpected ways but also in ordinary ways.  When He provides you an opportunity, even though you don’t think it good enough, take it.  There might not come another.