This has been a summer of thunderstorms. Out of a clear sky, a few fluffy clouds form. Some of them grow taller, heavier, darker. An anvil top mushrooms ominously. Thunder rolls; lightning flashes; rain falls in torrents.
For a period, the meteorologist’s weather maps showed recurring bands of thunderstorms hanging over the higher mountain ranges east of us.
Scientifically, there’s good reason for the location of these storms.
It starts with water. Water is a remarkable substance. We know it in three forms -- solid, liquid, and gas. It takes one calorie of heat to raise the temperature of a gram of water by one degree Celsius. To lower the temperature of that water by one degree, you have to take a calorie of heat out of it. Basically, that’s the definition of a calorie.
But to change each gram of water into water vapour -- from a liquid into a gas, in other words -- requires 540 calories. Conversely, converting a gas into a liquid releases 540 calories.
Are you still with me?
So when wind patterns sweep warm moist air off the Pacific Ocean up against the mountain ramparts along the western edges of the North American continent, the mountains force that air to rise. And to cool. Until the water vapour condenses into water droplets.
Boom! Suddenly, 540 calories per gram turned loose in the upper atmosphere!
And there are lots of grams involved.
The sudden explosion of heat -- it’s hard to call it anything but an explosion -- sends air currents rocketing upwards. Clouds build up to 40,000 feet (13,000 m, to be consistent in my measurements) into the icy stratosphere. Turbulent currents boil and swirl. Updrafts rip past downdrafts, like escalators run amok. The internal friction literally tears electrons off molecules. Huge electrical imbalances build up.
Until -- ka-blam, a bolt of lightning momentarily equalizes the differences.
High places
That’s why thunderstorms tend to form over the mountain chains of British Columbia -- particularly the Rockies.
And why thunderstorms have long hung around the summit of Mount Olympus, at 2,918 metres (9,573 ft.) the highest mountain in Greece.
Little wonder that the ancient Greeks, who didn’t know the science of thunder and lightning, identified Olympus with the home of the gods. Little wonder, too, that their primary god, the mighty father of all other gods, was Zeus, the god of sky and thunder. Statues of Zeus show him brandishing thunderbolts in his right hand.
I sometimes wonder how much of Zeus’s personality got siphoned over into the biblical Yahweh/Jehovah. Exodus notes that God spoke to Moses in thunder, from the top of a mountain shrouded in black cloud. Psalms describe God living in thunderstorms, of striking with thunderbolts. Even the relatively modern Battle Hymn of the Republic sings, “He has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword.”
When the prophet Elijah fled up a mountain, he expected to hear God in storm, earthquake, or fire. But he didn’t. Instead, God came in a moment of utter silence. And in the silence, a voice whispered to Elijah.
I suspect this story was recorded as a turning point, between Olympian gods of raw power and ruthlessness, and the beginnings of belief in a God of forgiving love.
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Copyright © 2016 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups, and links from other blogs, welcomed; all other rights reserved.
To comment on this column, write jimt@quixotic.ca
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YOUR TURN
I’m not sure whether last week’s column was about weeds, or symbiotic relationships, or about invasive species.
Tom Watson focussed on the weeds: “I remember reading somewhere, some time ago, a definition of a weed as ‘an unloved flower.’ But we have a hard time, it seems, to accept anything close to that notion, thus spending much time and effort, as well as money, on getting rid of what we perceive as weeds.
“You rightly suggest that there's a balance to all things. Turns out we humans aren't good at keeping the balance; we much prefer things tilted in a way that satisfies our perceptions.
“Try as we might, though, Nature struggles to prevail against us. I remember an old farmer friend telling me about when they used the now-banned DDT to control cut worms in crops. In the beginning they used barely a tablespoon in a 45 gallon drum sprayer. By 10 years they were using a gallon rather than a tablespoon, because the cutworms had adapted a resistance to human efforts to eradicate them.”
John Shaffer commented, “You may be old/young enough to remember when a fundamentalist Interior Secretary (James Watts) spoke out against saving the forests of America because Jesus would come again and then that would be the end of the earth as we know it. That was when I realized that religious beliefs of our leaders do matter. Putting someone like that in charge of our natural world was ‘nuts’ to say the least.”
Dale Perkins wrote, “I've contemplated this entire notion of 'invasive species' for some time, and recognize that the most threatening, invasive species is us humanoids. Humankind has been ‘invading’ environments from the beginning, and we've totally come to believe that's our ‘god-given’ right. So whenever another life-forms ‘invades’ our environment, we go all out to get rid of it.
“I wonder if even the term -- invasive species -- must be jettisoned entirely. It totally screws up our consciousness to consider some species objectionable and thereby must be exterminated or removed -- applies to everything, including fish species invading lakes and certain plants labelled 'weeds'.”
Dale added a footnote: “Tom Watson's item re medically-assisted dying was emotional to read -- wonderful contribution to the debate.”
Charles Hill wrote out of his experience with imprisoned criminals: “The purpose of ‘weeding,’ whether applied to a garden or a culture, is to obtain the type of food or living style that meets our desires and/or needs. Maybe the issue is the attempt to eliminate plants/people that will harm our own existence. Surely someone who will rape a 5 year old girl is a weed.”
Ted Wilson: “I see parallels in your last Softedges column and the current Sharpedges one [on altering the DNA of mosquitoes]. Do things we don’t like have place in God’s grand scheme, and if so what is it? Until we know how the Anopheles Mosquito fits into that grand scheme we better not go eliminating it. After it’s gone we may wish it wasn’t. Vaccines are a much better way to go. They replicate what our bodies do anyway.
“If Susan Goldberg [editor of the National Geographic magazine] and others like her included people in their statistics on what impacts the human population has had, perhaps we would be focusing more of our attention and efforts on reducing that impact rather than trying to eliminate some lowly mossie.”
The issue of what happens before and after death continues to draw letters.
In a second e-mail, John Shaffer wanted to follow up on my response to Charles Hill’s question, last week, “You don't believe in a conscious existence after physical death?”
John asked, “Did you get this insight after retirement? I don't have the guts to preach this viewpoint, but I am sympathetic to it. Funerals and memorial services became tougher and tougher. I just smile to myself when folks assure one another that Uncle Ben is enjoying a good game of golf in the afterlife. Not believing in a fiery hell, I don't suggest that Uncle Ben is burning for all the Sundays he skipped worship to play Golf with his buddies.
“I have the impression that some religionists (Jewish?) teach that we exist in the afterlife as long as we are remembered.: in other words, that is the only reality to immortality. That gives Abraham and Abraham Lincoln a distinct advantage over many of us. We might last 3 generations, if we are lucky. It gives meaning to many practices I have observed in China and Vietnam.
“Others teach that we are absorbed back into ‘something’ that we might call the divine or God. Fascinating subject.”
Jack Driedger wrote, “Isn’t the face of certain death today and every day? We can choose every day of our lives to be a time of certain death.
”A teenaged friend recovered from a coma. He told me he was angry when his family surrounded him in an attempt to make sure he was ‘saved’at a time when he had to hear every word they said and could not respond.
“Having celebrated my 90th birthday makes me realize that that I am closer to the time of my death than I have ever been. Some things that mattered so much do not matter anymore.
The Bible story of Lazarus and the rich man as well as the son of man addressing the people at the entrance of the pearly gates clearly tell us that what matters is what we did rather than what we said. Those who cared about ‘the least of these’ are welcomed to the kingdom and those who did not care are told to go away. We are not asked whether we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal saviour. We are asked, ‘What did you do?’
“To become a believer just to make sure to get to heaven sounds rather selfish!”
And Rob Dummermuth added: “I remember one an enthusiastic preacher saying something like ‘If it wasn't for the reward of heaven don't you think I'd be out there having fun?’ It seemed to me a funny way of saying it. I was learning to enjoy the Christian life in the 'here and now', not necessarily waiting for an obscure promise in some distant future. I was in my early 20s.
“Now in my early 70s I have ample experience of ‘what goes around comes around’, I enjoy the blessing of living in a world created by my God and know that abusing that creation order (some of which we call sin, some of which we call progress/freedom/self expression/etc.) inevitably has consequences. My struggle now is seeking to know which is which, and relying on the God given grace of those around me to cover my misunderstandings.
“I still have concerns about the concept of death bed conversions -- indeed have some concerns with the whole concept of 'conversion' as practiced by some. I think I'd prefer growing into awareness.”
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PSALM PARAPHRASES
Psalm 71 is described in some Bibles as an old man's prayer, but it could equally well apply to a young child. Both are vulnerable and dependent on others. I chose to paraphrase from the child's viewpoint. Every one of us has been a child; some of us are still waiting to grow old.
1 Don't let them make fun of me.
Let me hide myself behind your skirts.
2 Comfort me and protect me;
listen to my fears, and enfold me in your arms.
3 When I am in trouble, I run to you.
I have no one but you to rely on.
4 The bigger kids won't leave me alone;
their greedy hands keep grabbing at me.
Rescue me from their clutches.
5 From the time I was tiny, you have been my refuge.
I have always been able to trust you.
6 Before I was born, I felt safe in your womb.
As an infant, I rested on your breast.
You are all I have, and all I ever had.
For paraphrases of most of the psalms used by the Revised Common Lectionary, you can order my book Everyday Psalms from Wood Lake Publishing, info@woodlake.com.
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YOU SCRATCH MY BACK…
Ralph Milton has a new project, called Sing Hallelujah -- the world’s first video hymnal. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at www.singhallelujah.ca
Isabel Gibson's thoughtful and well-written blog, www.traditionaliconoclast.com
Wayne Irwin's "Churchweb Canada," an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://www.churchwebcanada.ca>
Alva Wood's satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town are not particularly religious, but they are fun; write alvawood@gmail.com to get onto her mailing list.
Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” – ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at twatson@sentex.net
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TECHNICAL STUFF
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