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A Strange View of Hurricane Ike
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, September 12, 2008
Tonight at the football game of Boerne Champion High School, we had a strange view of the outer cloud bands of Hurricane Ike. Boerne, Texas, where is live, is about 200 miles from Houston, safely out of danger from Ike’s gale force winds and heavy rain. What we saw tonight was strangely beautiful . . . strange because of the peril developing not too far away. For us, the outer cloud ring of Ike made for a beautiful sunset. For those in Galveston, Houston, and neighboring communities, Ike looks very scary right now. It’s odd, isn’t it, how nature can be both terrifying and beautiful at the same time, depending on your point of view.
Topics: Musings |
6 Responses to “A Strange View of Hurricane Ike”
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September 13th, 2008 at 7:48 am
Mark,
It is a beautiful scene. As I looked at the picture and read your comments the thought that came to mind is how the appearing of Jesus at His return will be beautiful to His people but terrifying to those who oppose Him / rejected Him.
September 15th, 2008 at 9:15 am
One of my favorite passages from Charles Williams’ book, “Descent into Hell”, which I recommend to anyone who likes pictures painted with words:
“…. Nature’s so terribly good. Don’t you think so, Mr. Stanhope?”
Stanhope was standing by, silent, while Mrs. Parry communed with her soul and with one or two of her neighbours on the possibilities of dressing the Chorus. He turned his head and answered, “That Nature is terribly good? Yes, Miss Fox. You do mean ‘terribly’?”
“Why, certainly,” Miss Fox said. “Terribly–dreadfully–very.”
“Yes,” Stanhope said again. “Very. Only–you must forgive me; it comes from doing so much writing, but when I say ‘terribly’ I think I mean ‘full of terror’. A dreadful goodness.”
“I don’t see how goodness can be dreadful,” Miss Fox said, with a shade of resentment in her voice. “If things are good they’re not terrifying, are they?”
“It was you who said ‘terribly’,” Stanhope reminded her with a smile, “I only agreed.”
September 18th, 2008 at 12:50 am
The sun sets in the west. Since you are looking to the east, boerne to houston, would this be a moon rise? Can the colors represent man’s pollution through the reflected light of the sun, off of the moon, to a refracted image in our eyes’? I guess the sun rays could be directly refracted through the pollution causing the image.
I’ve stumbled across your site in search of answers in a time of uncertainty for myself. I call myself a Christian because I was baptized in the name of Christ and in that I try to do “good deeds” when those opportunities fall at my feet.
My biggest problem in my “faith” is how the politics of religion and government co-exist. How does the Bible interpret a government without faith versus a government that is faithful? Why, do we in America, have a separation of church and state, yet the two are intertwined?
I have read some of your articles and was intrigued enough to bookmark you site. With that being said, if you have answered this question before, point me to link. Otherwise, what say you Mr. Roberts?
September 18th, 2008 at 9:45 am
ben o.
The photograph is indeed looking east. What you assumed was the sun or the moon, however, appears to be nothing more dramatic than a bank of stadium lights.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Ben O: The big light is a stadium light cluster. The little light in the sky is ?????
Your church and state and faith questions are great ones. I wish I had a good place to send you. I’ve done a bit of writing about this. Check out my left column. Otherwise, I don’t know of a good, succinct website for you. I wish I did.
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:36 pm
“The big light is a stadium light cluster. The little light in the sky is ?????”
The little light in the sky is a reflection of the big light within your camera lens. It’s called lens flare.