After a sunny afternoon, suddenly this large, dark cloud came rolling in, and then the heavens opened. It seems like there are lots of storms going about these days. I saw a Facebook post even this morning from some folks camping in Algonquin Park where a tornado roared through knocking down, in their words, hundreds of trees. Their friend’s car and trailer were destroyed, but they were safe.

The storm clouds seem to be growing in the Middle East as the USA ramps up the action on Iran and now, even this morning, Iran attacks a US military base in Qatar. Those storm clouds don’t disappear so quickly, and they tend to seed other violence, which brings more loss of life and human suffering. We’re watching people starve in Gaza as Israel continues to try to destroy Hamas. The call for humanitarian aid to Gaza seems to be being lost in the shadow of those storm clouds.

As a pastor, I would often talk to people who were exploring faith about their sense of peace. I found that people were often exploring faith because they felt a lack of peace in their lives; they felt that the answers to life that they had were not satisfactory.

We talk about the weather a great deal. I think, unless it’s hockey season, it’s the first thing we think about talking about. What about thinking about talking more about the need for peace, for knowing in the middle of storm clouds that God can give peace, can be our solace (there’s a word we don’t use much), and that He can strengthen us in those times.