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Lightning
illuminates true belief
by
Mark Bauer
editor-in-chief
The weather radar
on the computer showed only green over my location in
Hurst, but the red was getting closer and soon the purple
would be on top of us. “Good,” I thought
to myself, “I can get out to my car before the
heavy stuff hits.”
I saved my unfinished Word documents, shut
down the computer, rounded up Gary, my managing editor,
and headed outside. Soon, we were able to confirm what
the radar had reported a few moments ago—a light
drizzle.
We parted ways, Gary heading west toward
the storm (lucky!) and me going southeast. I tried to
outrun it; I didn’t.
The lightning was crazy; crazier than I
had seen in quite some time. But it’s difficult
to watch when driving, so I pulled off the highway,
hopped into a Subway for a turkey sandwich and watched
the electric storm from the comfort of my Jeep. Hey,
when you’re a college kid, all forms of free entertainment
are a GO.
In this moment I felt the weight of something.
My turkey sandwich being digested, perhaps? Bad mayo?
I knew those black olives didn’t look right.
I’m a skeptic by nature. I’m also one of
the most positive people you will ever meet. Don’t
ask me how those two mix because I’m not sure—I
just know I’m one jacked up hybrid. I question
everything—that’s probably why journalism
and I get along so well—from people’s motives
to the very existence of God at times (I know, ... how
in the world is a Christian able to say such things?).
But tonight I had no questions, only awe.
The sweet, refreshing smell of the air from the spring
rains; the coolness of the wind against my touch; the
lights in the atmosphere orchestrated to the beat of
a heavenly drum—all testified to the glory of
a God powerful enough to speak it into existence.
We can debate semantics. We can look up
the cause of lightning: how it is created and how the
static charge in the atmosphere produces the show.
But that’s only part of the answer. We might as
well attempt to explain love by trying to understand
the chemical reactions in our brain. While it might
sustain the “how,” it inexplicably fails
to answer the “why.” And the “why” is
by far the most important question of them all.
Science can answer who, what, when and
where ... but why?
Well, for some, that has yet to be discovered.
But in my mind, in this moment, there is no question.
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