Weather, Writing, and Truth

As the emerging clouds roll in here in Switzerland, they not only threaten the last glimpse of sunlight but also your plans for the day.  And yet, just as the clouds move in and the rain comes down, the sun can reappear just as quickly, and with it, unexpected opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. The weather in Switzerland is unpredictable to say the least.  The surrounding Alps have the ability to both hold in and prevent weather patterns to emerge which result in the drastic changes that we experience.  (A few of us even refer to the weather as being schizophrenic in nature)

On one hand the ever-changing weather can create fluctuating portraits of the landscape.  This is why you can take a picture from the same exact spot and get a different image with every click of the camera.  On the other hand, the volatility of the weather can help you confront your need to be in control.  The weather simply does not care if you have plans for the day.  The rain simply is not concerned with your wants.  The sun is not interested in cooperating with your desires.  The weather is not to be controlled.  And this can be hard at times for someone like me who still grasps at things that I cannot control.

“Let us take things as we find them: let us not attempt to distort them into what they are not… We cannot make facts. All our wishing cannot change them. We must use them.”

-Cardinal John Henry Newman

Nevertheless, embracing the uncontrollable weather in Switzerland has been a freeing experience for me because it has given me the opportunity to not only confront other things in my life, but also people, who simply cannot and should not be controlled.  And this has left me with a glaring truth.  Not only do I have less control than what I think, but the very same things and people who I can’t control simply don’t care.  They are not concerned about my existence.

What a gift to my soul.

I have always been drawn to writing.  Every empty page offers me the canvas to probe my past for understanding while at the same time juxtapose my present day realities to a glimmer of authenticity.  All while still holding onto to hope as I daydream about my unknown future.  In short, it is an activity that helps me make sense out of my life.  That is, if I am open to a larger truth.

An objective truth that is not concerned about what I think is right, or how things should be, or what my feelings are, or what I think is fair.  And like the weather, when my relationship to this objective truth is not interested in controlling it, rather, be captivated and transformed by it, the writing becomes satisfied for what it is within itself.  Subsequently the writing is not concerned about anything else.  It is not concerned about the number of likes on Facebook.  It is not concerned about financial gain.  It is not concerned about self-satisfaction.  Rather, its sole purpose is to explore and be transformed by a deeper objective truth.

My brother was here visiting this past week and it rained just about every day.  And yet, with every changing cloud and occasional break of sunlight, a deeper truth emerged.  Namely, letting go of control has allowed me to be taken over by a deeper reality…in the end, the only thing that really matters are relationships.  Relationships with loved ones, friends, neighbors, myself, and truth.

With nothing more important than my relationship to truth.

“But there is no true peace without truth! There cannot be true peace if everyone is his own criterion, if everyone can always claim exclusively his own rights, without at the same time caring for the good of others, of everyone, on the basis of the nature that unites every human being on this earth.”

–Pope Francis

Weather and writing are two avenues that help me wrestle with truth…what are yours?