“Hear my cry, O Lord!”

Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.

Psalm 61:1-3 KJV

As I struggle to keep my balance while Irma is trying her best to rip the window louvers out, it was actually the Caribbean gospel version sung by Marvia Providence that was playing in my head and on my lips.  I sang my prayer over the howling winds in hopes that the Lord would keep me safe ’til the storm passes by.

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“… ’til the storm passes by”

‘Til the storm passes over, ‘Til the thunder sounds no more;
‘Til the clouds roll forever from the sky,
Hold me fast, let me stand, In the hollow of Thy hand;
Keep me safe ’til the storm passes by.

I grew up hearing my grandmother–God rest her soul–sing along as this hymn played on her radio but I was NOT feeling it, even though it burned itself into my subconsciousness.  Now that I find myself holding an area rug against a window to keep it from blowing in, singing that refrain is one of the few things comforting my spirit at this terrifying moment in my life.

Wed 9/6/2017

The following is an excerpt from an entry in my physical journal:

So… it’s 2017 and I recently unearthed this journal. It was found while preparing for an impending storm. At this very moment, it’s 12:49 pm and Hurricane Irma is literally pummeling St. Thomas. Why did I decide to write in my journal in the middle of a record-breaking storm? I’ll get to that soon.

Hurricane Warning

It was the first week in September and the weather reports were not good: Hurricane Irma was on a collision course with the U.S. Virgin Islands.  No big deal, right? The last real hurricane to actually hit St. Thomas was 22 years ago so this one was just a drill. If only…