Today's readings: Psalm 102:1-8; Job 37:1-13

I think it was Mark Twain who said "Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it." A harmless joke, with a profound truth behind it. Of course, we do nothing about the weather, because (at least in the short term) there is nothing we can do about it.

The longer-term questions of climate change and its human causes are another question, but let's remember this distinction: climate is what you expect; weather is what you get.

In the short term, we get what we get, and we are powerless to do anything about it. There's a late winter storm approaching here today, and all we can do is say "Oh yuk!" – and then deal with it when it comes.

Perhaps more than anything else, the weather reminds us of our utter contingency – dependence on God and on God's grace. So much of what happens in our lives is just beyond our control and understanding, although some scientists continue to insist that if we work at understanding the mechanisms, we may be able to control things. In the meantime, we strive to learn how to accept the ways of God.

If it teaches us nothing else, a thunderstorm shows that God is God, and I am not – the fundamental revelation of humility

In Job we read:

¹⁰By the breath of God ice is given,
   and the broad waters are frozen fast. ¹¹He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
   the clouds scatter his lightning. ¹²They turn round and round by his guidance,
   to accomplish all that he commands them
   on the face of the habitable world. ¹³Whether for correction, or for his land,
   or for love, he causes it to happen.

God of mystery,
give me the grace
to accept what you cause to happen,
and the courage to move forward
when things seem most difficult.
You alone are God,
and into your hands I commend my Spirit.