Waiting for the Lord

  

                              

                                                       Photo:Pinterest

When people think of our Lord Jesus Christ, they often lift their gaze to the sky, searching for a sign—a wondrous phenomenon that will confirm His presence. They photograph clouds and sunsets, analyze images, and even ask artificial intelligence to “reveal” forms hidden in light and among the clouds. Yet this search, however impressive it may seem, remains external.

From antiquity, humanity sought the divine within the elements of nature. The sun, the air, the water, and the earth were deified. People perceived power, light, and life, but did not seek their source within themselves. And yet, the Orthodox tradition teaches us that God is not apprehended by the eyes of the body, nor is He confined to shapes and shadows. To “see” God requires faith, humility, and love. When the heart is purified and thoughts grow still, then the presence of our Lord becomes an inner experience.

Here we encounter the mystery of the uncreated energies of God. The theology of the Church—as articulated especially by Saint Gregory Palamas—distinguishes between the essence of God, which remains inaccessible, and His uncreated energies, through which God reveals Himself. The light of the Transfiguration was not created light; it was uncreated, divine light. This same light is symbolized in the Paschal candle of the Resurrection: it is transmitted from candle to candle without being diminished. It is shared, yet not divided.

The uncreated energies are neither imagination nor poetic symbolism. They are the living presence of God within the world. Nature obeys laws, but behind the laws stands the Lawgiver. At times, a person sees something unusual in the sky and hastens to call it a miracle or an omen. Yet discernment is necessary. Not every impressive phenomenon is a sign of divine intervention, nor is every sign understood by all.

In 2018, in the state of Texas, a cloud was photographed that resembled a dragon breathing fire from its mouth. The image traveled around the world. Some regarded it simply as a rare interplay of light in the evening sky, in accordance with meteorological explanations; others sought symbolism and warnings. Had they lived in antiquity, they might have spoken of an ill omen and hurried to offer sacrifices. In the modern era, the phenomenon was recorded, shared on social media, and admired as a natural “work of art.”

                    

And yet, in the following years—2020 to 2022—Texas was severely tested by unprecedented crises and natural disasters. The raging dragon seemed to sow death upon the land of Texas. Was the cloud a forewarning? Or does the human heart seek meaning in hindsight? The Church does not hastily interpret natural phenomena as punishments or warnings. Yet it calls us to vigilance: every event can become an occasion for repentance and return to God—not for fear.

A similar disturbance was caused by a photograph taken in April–May 2025 over the Icarian Sea. A purplish-golden shape in the sky was interpreted as a garment of a figure. Some digitally added a head and presented it as an image of Christ. The picture spread internationally, even reaching the Philippines, with varying accounts of its location. Here a new temptation emerges: the distortion of reality through technology. Twenty years earlier, a purplish-golden garment-like formation had indeed been photographed in the sky above the Aegean, following an airplane, yet the head was unseen. When a person intervenes to “complete” what he believes he sees, he may drift away from truth. A natural phenomenon does not need to assume a humanoid form in order to be valid. It is ironic that artificial intelligence was hastily used to add a head to the garment that appeared over the Icarian Sea in April 2025. In the Odyssey, Phorcys is continually transformed. Human form is not necessary for transformation. This is the property of light—transformation. But whose light? Clearly, the dragon form in Texas did not arise from the uncreated energies of God.

                                         

The uncreated energies of God require no digital enhancement. They do not impose themselves spectacularly. They are revealed in purified hearts. The light of God is gentle; it is not an object of photography but an inner experience of transformation. Whoever partakes of it is changed—becoming more meek, more humble, more loving. One begins to love God, other people, and all of nature. One offers selflessly in society and obeys the will of the Creator.

                                 

Something similar occurred in Italy in 2019, when a luminous trapezoid-shaped form in the sky led many to exclaim that “the Lord is coming.” Yet Christ did not promise spectacular appearances to satisfy our curiosity. He taught that the Kingdom of God is within us. True waiting is not anxious observation of the sky, but spiritual preparation.

                                    

Nature is an intelligent creation and bears traces of divine energy. When we respect it, it is blessed. When we intervene recklessly, we suffer the consequences. We need not search for dragons or luminous tables in the sky in order to believe. We must first turn inward, so that, enlightened, we may then act with love and respect toward our fellow human beings and toward nature.

Waiting for the Lord does not mean awaiting an external spectacle. It means awaiting our inner encounter. And this encounter presupposes purification, love, and humility. Then the uncreated energies will become for us not a subject of discussion, but an experience of Divine Light.

Photo Sources:

• Texas: “Dragon’s Breath,” photographed by Joe Moxley at Lake Travis, Lago Vista, Texas, on October 13, 2018.

• Icarian Sea: “GREECE Icarian Skies” – Instagram. Photographed by an unknown resident of Ikaria at sunset.

• Italy: Photographed by Alfredo Lo Brutto in Agropoli, Italy, March 2019.