Mariah

 Listening to the gusts of wind squeezing through the gaps, whipping the bushes against the windows, echoing down the chimney. Storm Agnes they’ve named these winds. A couple of years ago, Storm Arwen roared through Scotland from the wrong direction, breaking millions of trees and wreaking devastation across the countryside. 

As a child, gathered round a campfire with others my age, we would sing a song with the line, ‘They called the wind Mariah’. It was a song that conjured images of lonely cowboys in hostile territory clumped round a fire, listening warily for wolves and mountain lions and wishing for home. 

Interesting that we name winds and storms and hurricanes. 

We were created for relationship, and we often look in the wrong places, imagining that we can interact with inanimate weather phenomena. We often anthropomorphise animals too, as anyone with wee kids knows. Or even trains and cars. 

We were made for relationship. In the garden of Eden, the first man and woman walked in the garden with God every evening. One imagines they chatted and laughed, maybe shared deep thoughts and dreams. They had a bond, a bond of love that was strong and absolute. 

The worst thing about the fall from grace was the breaking of that bond, of that relationship.

Praying today for all who are lonely, and for all who are bereft of meaningful relationships. The good news is that Jesus promised never to leave or forsake us, a huge promise redolent of comfort and love, hope and peace. Relationship with him is everything.