“But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.” – Mark 13:24-26
Outside my window, Jesus,
I see clouds (and sun; no moon).
The clouds will bring us rain
in fifteen minutes, thereabouts.
They will not bring the end of history.
Heaven and earth remain with us.
So do your words, of course.
Some stoke the watching fires,
peering into day and night.
They have not seen the end of history.
Perhaps we have it wrong.
Perhaps rain’s immanence
is not the story of the clouds,
nor do they promise Christ’s return.
They do not bring the end of history.
But just perhaps, if I look close,
in leaden billows or in silver froth,
I’ll see in them a mirror image
of their blessed Creator.
They need not bear the end of history.
A poem/prayer based on Mark 13:24-37, the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel Reading for Year B, First Sunday of Advent.
Photo by Eric Anderson.
ordainedgeek 
You found a blessing in this text! Hurray for you!
We’re under a flood watch on Hawai’i Island at the moment, one that occasionally sounded apocalyptic. Looking at the very ordinary clouds off to the east, I started wondering how else to read apocalyptic.
Yes, indeed … and just shows how much Hawai’i news we get here. I am sorry not to be aware of that.
I can’t say I’m all that aware of the weather in New Hampshire – though with my son living in Vermont now I might have a better idea in coming days.
That’s wonderful, though it is pretty variable in New England. I’m in Kittery Maine now, but mostly it is just Atlantic coast weather … will the sun ever shine?