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| 'Rock of Ages' writer Augustus Toplady |
(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator
George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere
in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Viewing the miracle of a
thunderstorm” was originally published in the June 27, 2002 edition of The
Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)
As each day comes and goes, I become more and more disturbed
by our total disregard about our place in our environment. We have rushed
head-on into the scales of Nature’s balance and have scattered everything to
the four winds as an angry child might scatter its toys. Very little is
mentioned any more about the beautiful sightings of a special sunset or an
afternoon on a quiet and peaceful hillside, watching the clouds gather of an
approaching thunderstorm.
Some of my readers might think me a little odd when I state
that I had rather watch the clouds of a coming storm gather on the horizon than
to see any sports event that one might conjure up. Wednesday, the 19th
of June, I happened to be atop a high hill north of here, near the community of
Franklin. As I looked to the northwest, I saw what I thought was the beginning
of a glorious spectacle.
Getting out of my vehicle, I watched in awe as the rolling
clouds in the western skies began to unleash their fury upon the countryside
with strong winds and the promise of lashing rains. During the next 40 or so
minutes, I would witness a beautiful and breathtaking display of a portion of
the Creator’s magnitude and power.
Standing there atop the steep hill, I watched as the storm
clouds gathered to form a display of power that would dazzle the human mind. I
was beginning to witness a small portion of the awesome power that the Almighty
has at His fingertips. And, I saw too, just how fragile man was when in the
presence of this great power.
As I faced the western skies and watched the storm clouds as
they hurried ever eastward, I was reminded of great war chariots of another
time, hurrying to form a mighty battle line that reached from horizon to
horizon.
I watched in amazement as the mighty winds whipped the heavy
clouds into a rolling mass, as though the great chariots of war had begun their
mighty charge. I watched as the rushing winds curled the ends of the mass of
clouds, as though they were the stragglers of the advancing army. I listened to
the magnitude of the rolling thunder as it swept across the hills like the
sound of 10,000 hoofs of hundreds of charging horses. And, I watched as the
world around me bowed as though about to be conquered, beneath the awesome and
breathtaking display of the Creator’s power.
Onward and nearer charged the chariots of clouds, bringing
with them a huge reservoir of water that would soon pour across the land in
millions and millions of huge cold drops. And, the rushing winds that raced
before the approaching rains, bending the trees and brush, as though telling
the whole world to run and hide, to seek shelter and protection from the mass
of chariots and racing war horses.
As I stood there atop the high hill and watched the masses
of limitless energy take shape across the horizon, I thought how helpless I
must have looked to the Almighty from His place in the clouds. Here I stood,
like a grain of sand beside the mighty ocean, totally helpless against the
forces before me.
And, I thought of man as a whole, and how weak and fragile
he was in his small place within the universe. I thought of his helplessness
when he was foolish enough to try and match wits with the Almighty. And, I
realized once again, that my survival as well as everyone else’s is totally
hopeless if one chose to try to make it through this life without the guidance
of the One from above.
As I braced myself against the rushing winds, I quickly made
my way to the safety of my vehicle. Safely within the security of my vehicle,
the beating and pounding rain pelted the cab of my truck as though trying to
reach in and drag me out into the wind and turmoil of the storm. Sitting there
listening to the storm outside, I thought of a songwriter in ages past, and how
he must have felt when he wrote the famous lyrics, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee.” I knew that he, too, realized how fragile man was
as he sought shelter from a terrible storm such as this one, among the huge
boulders on a steep mountainside many years ago.
Sitting there in the security and quietness of my vehicle, a
feeling of peace came over me, and as the rain and thunderstorm began to
subside, I knew that all was well as the war chariots above passed onward
toward the east. Starting the engine of my vehicle, I made my way back toward
Highway 41. As I pulled onto the security of the pavement, I realized that I
was humming the most beautiful hymn, “Amazing Grace.” Nothing could have been
more appropriate for what I had just witnessed.
(Singleton, the author
of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of
79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born during a late-night
thunderstorm on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water
High School in 1946, served in the Korean War, lived for a time among Apache
Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the
administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from 1964 to 1987. For
years, Singleton’s column “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal,
and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in
Alabama Life magazine. Some of his earlier columns also appeared under the
heading of “Monroe County History: Did You Know?” He is buried in Pineville
Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns
are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County
Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week
for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work
and memory alive.)
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