The storm was coming. For a long, long time weathermen had been predicting it, though none were quite sure when it would come. The overcast skies, the warm breezes, the stillness of nature’s chirping and screeching: all pointed to a violent tempest waiting to explode. And for years the people waited for the clouds to unload.

The storm predictions had become a regular segment on many evening weather reports. For years the same message had been broadcast to those watching: prepare for the storm. Over the years, weathermen tried different approaches and methods to get the news out, though some became rather discouraged with repeating the same message time and time again. Some remained true to the evidence their meteorological expertise had made them aware of, but some, for fear of losing their audience, would change the message a little, or dress it up so it didn’t sound so ominous. Who, after all, wanted to hear that a dreadful storm was coming?

Still, the evidence was there. Those who investigated found that the signs did indeed point to a storm the likes of which had never been experienced. Shelters were built in preparation, but testing often showed them to be inadequate for the magnitude of wind or the volume of rain that was expected. Others ignored the evidence, choosing instead to go on with their lives as if only peace and prosperity awaited them. “There’s no storm,” some would say. “It’s a cleverly devised fable the weathermen have invented to maintain control over you. Don’t believe them.”

A shelter was finally discovered. It was a cave that was exceptionally sturdy and contained enough room to hold anyone who wanted to enter it. It proved capable of withstanding all that the storm could muster, and then some. The weathermen began to include directions to the cave in the nightly reports, so the audience could begin to make their way to it ahead of the storm. Doubters, of course, pooh-poohed the idea and ridiculed the caravan that streamed into the cave seeking protection. This caused some of those headed for the cave to turn back and discouraged many that considered packing up and moving to shelter.

The night came for the final report. The honest weathermen resigned after alerting everyone one last time that the signs that heralded the storm were now at their most intense. It was only a matter of hours before the clouds released that which they had so long restrained. After the broadcasts, they were headed for the cave, along with a few last-minute believers.

The next day began just like any other. People woke up at the same time, groomed themselves in the same way, and began their daily activities in the usual manner. About noon, the rains began.

Contributed by Stephen F. Pizzini spizzini@hotmail.com Comments/Feedback are welcome.

Matt 24:37-39 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. NIV

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