naming the storm

 As I sit down to write this I have absolutely no idea what Im about to say.   Apart from one question which has been going round my head all day.   Why do we name storms?

We've just experienced storm Barra here in Northern Ireland.  We woke to vicious rain and lashing winds which continued all day and brought down trees and power lines and flooded the roads.  It was very unpleasant - especially as I was tasked with lugging all my Jo Jingles equipment from car to nursery school in four different locations.  I spent most of the day looking and feeling bedraggled.  ( Thats a very good word isnt it?  Bedraggled.  I shall have to use it more often. )   Barra is all people have been talking about all day.   It follows closely on the back of storm Arwen a couple of weeks ago which left some of Northumberland without power for 10 days and counting.   The names of any future storms between now and next September have already been chosen.   Alphabetical order as proposed by members of the public then decided on by the Met office.  



But why?   Why name a storm?  And what does God have to say about why we name storms?   Ummmm......    well I suppose the reason why we name anything is because God told Adam to give things names.  In Genesis Adam names the animals because he is going to have dominion over them.  Giving something a name confers meaning onto it.  It gives us a measure of authority over it  And it enables us to talk about it in a meaningful way.    God made Adam a creature apart from the animals and put all the things Adam could name into his control. Ever since then mankind has named things we have invented. grown. dreamed and imagined.  We have named our children. the places we live and the emotions we feel.  Everything has a name.  But a storm is a storm.  We have already named it.  So why does it need another name?

Apparently. according to the Met Office, the reason we have started to name storms is that people prepare better for a coming potential catastrophe if it can be made personal and specific.   Naming the storm makes it not just any old storm. but something focused, particular, identifiable.  When it has a name we can refer to it, blame it. hold it responsible.   It becomes more than just a random movement of air and water vapour in the atmosphere.  It becomes a character in the story of our individual and collective lives.

Would it help if we were able to name our spiritual storms?   If God does nothing without revealing His secrets to His servants the prophets then maybe we can tune in to His weather forecast and discover the name of any storm that is descending on us.  And in so doing, better prepare for whatever is coming our way.   Just a thought.  Not sure how much of this makes sense but its all Ive got for today.   Here's wishing you sunny skies in the physical and the spiritual xx



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