During the past week we have been blanketed with deep fog. Some days the visibility on our country road was only fifty feet. Approaching the blacktop I stopped the car and rolled down the windows so I could hear approaching vehicles. I certainly would not have been able to see them.
Fog has an interesting impact on our lives. Because of the fact that you cannot see very far you are more cautious and anxious. Any reasonable person knows that another vehicle or animal could explode from the deep mist and cause a potentially deadly accident. There were scenes this week when the gray haze rendered a quiet and mysterious presence. One morning we had freezing fog like the one pictured on our fence post. There were times when the dankness cast a mood of despair and people openly wondered if we would ever see the sun again. Someone at the doctor's office today said that with this many days of running fog we would have severe storms in ninety days. I will let you know if that happens.
Fog is a powerful metaphor for fear, terror, ignorance, and superstition. It works the same way in nearly every case. In fear our horizons are so narrowed we cannot discern reality, like the fact that the sun will return. In terror we may experience the brilliance of heroism or the darkness of unending hopelessness. ignorance shields our eyes from possibility. Superstition veils real options for change and maturation. We only fantasy the malevolent and grotesque.
Well guess what? The sun came out this afternoon and the wind is picking up. Nature displays a new set of images to reflect on.
Today the church celebrates Vincent of Saragossa, deacon and martyr from Spain. The church's prayer reads (from Robert Benson's, Venite): "Your deacon Vincent of Saragossa was upheld by your grace and was not terrified by threats nor overcome by torments; Strengthen us that we too may endure all adversity with invincible and steadfast love." Something to keep in mind when the fog rolls in.
