Today’s musing was about the majesty of summer thunderstorms. I do love them. I love the cool breeze in the midst of the hot evenings. I love the wind and the rain. It all makes me feel, as the song goes, “strangely alive.”

And yet, in my musing on my musing, I have to reflect on the changing weather patterns and the incredibly dangerous storms that are sweeping our country. In Central PA tornadoes were every 25 year occurrences. Now we’re frequently under warning. last year, 60 yards south of my brother-in-spirit’s house a tornado ripped out trees and off roofs. (and that was before the 100 year flood.) since then we’ve been on tornado watch quite a few times. So, I probably need to consider and refine my stance on greenhouse gasses and my casual consumption.

And I also remembered, only after pressing the send button, that I have a friend whose brother was struck by lightening. Everyone’s lives in that family changed in that instant. So the glory is tempered by the reality. And there’s the need always in my writing to keep pushing deeper until the essence is there and as many wounding edges as possible are removed.

When Utah Phillips was developing a story, at a certain point, he would take that story to his committee, a group of (hooray) Unitarian women, who would help him pick out the essence of what was funny and eliminate the denigrating. After a while he didn’t need them so much, because picking stuff apart stretches your awareness.

So, what’s the take away? The thrill is real. The thrilling is dangerous. The dangers seem to be increasing. And the dangerous really is dangerous and can change lives in a heartbeat.  And the poet needs to keep stretching the gift…

“Fear is not a betrayal of faith. It is simply a warning that risk is involved.” My friend, Jean Benefield Pinto plucked these words out of today’s musing. As with many broad statements (and although poetry can be incredibly nuanced, in a few short lines, you’re likely to be guilty of some hyperbole!), there’s a lot more to be said about fear.

Our world abounds with unhealthy fear that is sold to us by advertising and newspapers. Fear sells, it seems, far better than joy. And so we see story after story and post after post that give us reasons to be afraid. Too many of us are afraid of too many things — and many of them things that are not real in our lives. When we’re constantly afraid, we should talk to someone about that. And, let me point out, there’s no reason to be afraid about talking to someone!

But fear has a purpose in our lives. It is there to serve as a warning. We’re supposed to pay attention. This musing was inspired by an earlier musing I wrote about telling the truth. Driving to work that Sunday, I realized that I was lying to myself about something important in my life. I was lying because looking at the truth was terrifying. Until I could admit the terror, I couldn’t face the problem and take steps to move along toward a solution. The problem’s not solved, but the anxiety is reducing because I’m working my way out.

My facing the terror and saying it out loud (which is where I process) before there were any solutions caused consternation among friends. But I didn’t need a change of attitude. I needed a different goal and some different ways of doing things. None of those things were going to happen before I allowed myself to say… Oops! Fear. Because after all, I’m the Priestess, I’m supposed to have it all together, eh? Right. not so much.