Shelter

She found a shelter from the wind

Coming down from Ben MacDui

A massive rock on the mountainside

Placed there by God knows who

And in that shelter shelter more

Survival blankets left by whom?

Thoughtful people on the climb

Who know how the wind can blow

 

Disturbed by fog and getting dark

She stumbled upon the rock

A giant boulder ice age time

Now becomes her luck

Wrapped up warm and blanketed

High on that mountainside

The morning brought her rescue

Death had been defied

 

Today the Lord a shelter brings

On the Sea of Galilee

His word of power becalms the wind

The waters gentler be

And here today the wind blows strong

I am safe inside

And in my turn a shelter be

For those now at my side

 

Brian Fahy

29 January 2022

 

+ A hill walker in the Cairngorms was surprised by fog and then by high winds and freezing temperatures. She found a refuge beneath a huge boulder, where previous walkers had left survival blankets for whoever might need them one day. She feared for her life, but with the help of this shelter she survived.

 

Today’s gospel is the story of Jesus calming the wind and the sea, and as I read it the winds here in Scotland are howling a gale.

 

From these thoughts I find a gem of a lesson. I have the power to be a shelter for others in my life.