The story is told of a pastor visiting an elderly man in the hospital who was recovering from a broken leg caused by the nasty slip and fall on ice on the steps of his house. As was customary during a visit the pastor asked the man if there was a specific scripture passage they could read and discuss together. Without hesitation the man replied, “Psalm 121.” The pastor turned to the psalm and began to read, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip”— and as he soon as the word “slip” left his lips, he stopped and he looked up at the man who had a big smile on his face. “Keep reading,” the man said. And so the pastor continued. At the end of the passage the man said to the pastor, “That has always been my favourite psalm and it will continue to be because I know that it is true. God has, is, and will continue to take care of me.”
This story resonates with me but I admit that it is challenging to read especially verse 7 “The Lord will keep you from all harm” during times of challenge, illness, injury, or the passing of a loved one. I’ve learned to understand these words and others like them in the Bible better by thinking about the concepts of weather and climate. Weather of course can change day to day sometimes minute to minute, it is often unpredictable and sometimes even unforeseeable. It can certainly be out of the ordinary. Climate is more of a pattern or a big picture view of the weather, it is certainly more predictable, and usually doesn’t change drastically especially in short periods of times. While the weather in a particular area may vary day to day it is still largely predictable. Much like the weather is difficult to forecast, the events and situations we will face over the coming days, weeks, and months ahead are not known and yet we can trust the climate – that God continues to hold BCS and its community in His hand. It is after all His school and we, regardless of our age, are His children. God will continue to be faithful, as He always has been, and He will help us as a school and as a community to weather all types of weather!