I have this healthy fear of ball lightning now.
The other evening I decided to pick up my jogging routine again.
The night didn't threaten to yield a storm, if I recall correctly the stars were out.
In about the middle of the second lap around the stadium and after a few gusts of cooler wind, there was a storm and it was doing it's business.
In the span of about thirty seconds, there was a downpour, a transformer explosion, a campus wide blackout, about three terrific, consecutive cracks of sheet lightning and one amazing bolt of what I believe to have been ball lightning, which, as a friend of mine stated later, loves to hang out in the middle of the stadium field.
When I was out on the far end of the stadium, during the storm, I honestly have never really felt that helpless. There was no human caution I could take in order to fully assure my safety from the lightning. As a wise man once said, "You see, electricity is like a bear. It goes where it wants to."
So I prayed for God to deliver me. And I ran quite hard, trying to keep something higher nearby. And this time I was running against a stiff wind. Coupled with the rain, it was like running underwater.
I've never really doubted that the Lord had a sense of humor, and this was reinforced because when I reached the canopy near the fitness center, after sprinting like a goon and mumbling over and over again, "Lord help, I'm not going to die like this", the storm subsided immediately.
Now the purpose of the story besides to purely entertain those who would
scoff at my plight.
Before I sat down to write this entry, I was getting ready to jog again, and a storm started growling and foaming outside like a doberman, so I stayed in, somewhat annoyed.
The Psalms have been very powerful to me lately. Their beauty and rythym, their inspiration, the words of God.
19. The heavens are telling of the glory of God And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
And I fell across 29....
1.Ascribe to the Lord O sons of the mighty
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength
2.Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name
Worship the Lord in holy array.
3. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
The God of glory thunders,
The Lord is over many waters.
4. The voice of the Lord is powerful
The voice of the Lord is majestic.
The Lord had showed me about a week ago, that my jogging isn't as important
as His glory, as His exhibition of Himself through nature. He could have shown His glory just as easily by allowing the stars to shine that evening, but He chose not to. In short, it was a rebuke. How small we are.
And He just chose to stop the rain a second ago tonight.
Night all.
i think the most humorous thing about your story was keeping near something taller than you. sorry, but you are about the tallest thing i know (next to chewbaca of course).
but that reminds me of when i was little daddy would take us to the front porch or garage when there was a big storm. he taught us not to be afraid of them but to wonder at their beauty. once daddy and i were sitting in the garage watching this magnificant storm when a bolt of lightning hit the transformer box right in our culdisac (or however you spell that). the sky burst into blues and greens and yellows. it was about 2:30 in the morning so it was pitch black outside when the lightning hit and i have never seen something so beautiful. i have never been scared of storms since. but all that to say, i love it that daddy made us love storms because now i can go out and watch the power of God. and just the "randomness" of where the lightning hits is amazing. thanks for sharing your story.
Posted by: hill at August 4, 2003 11:30 PMdo this again. can we? i loved this post.
by the way, my brother josh did get thrown from his bike during a lightning storm on that same field, so you were wise to seek cover.
especially if you are indeed chewbacca-sized.
the equation is simple, really.
no trees-with-treehouses = no ewoks-to-the-rescue.
oh yeah, i forgot to ask and am too tired to look it up. what in the cow is 'BALL lightning'?
Posted by: joydriven at August 7, 2003 01:59 AMi was wondering the same thing. and am i so glad that i am not the only one that thinks ben and chewbacca are alike! mer and i thought of it when we were doing a star wars marathon! =)
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