Yesterday, after supper, I crossed the levee to the lake, for the first time in a couple of weeks. The two herons were there — not the great blue, but very lovely all the same, and not at all afraid of me. As the three of us were facing into the stiff, stiflingly hot north wind, without warning the temperature changed. It was not a gradual shift. One moment the wind was searing, the next refreshing, consoling. I flung out my arms and let it push me back over the levee and toward home. I breathed deeply and praised God.
The heat will be back, of course. It is only the beginning of September in southern Louisiana, so it will be important for me to remember yesterday’s fresh wind in the hot days to come.
We are always enfolded in God’s love, even when we are not aware of it, but sometimes there are privileged moments when we may become mindful, and then the comfort of the divine presence is like the coolness after that day of terrible heat, and all at once it is easy to be grateful.