Beneath the Clouds

Today while my daughter and I were at a panoramic viewpoint above Zermatt, for the first time in our week of vacation, the clouds rolled in and covered the Matterhorn and surrounding mountains. As I stood there watching the majestic beauty being shrouded by grey clouds, my first thought was how lucky we have been this week, to have five and a half days with the astounding view.. We have seldom been so lucky with weather, having spent many ski holidays with thick cloud cover so that we infrequently, if at all, saw the beauty of the mountains and valleys.

Then it made me think about the clouds covering each human’s majestic inner beauty. Whether it is a literal covering (a hijab, skin color, physical appearance, or gender) that prevents others from seeing us, or a figurative covering of our defence mechanisms, our mask of perfection, or our prickly hostile coat of armor, each of us seldom really let ourselves be known or be seen. 

Just like a tourist visiting a ski resort shrouded in clouds, we pass our days unaware of all the magical beauty around us (and within us). Think if we could see beneath the clouds, what we might see (or be).