“…  When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering…” – Matthew 16:2-3

The poetic version of these words goes like this:

“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.

Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning”

Blown by the westerly trade winds, weather, including storm systems, most commonly proceeds from west to east. Since the sun’s light is filtered and split into colors as it is deflected by particles of dust and water droplets, colors in the sky are indicators of weather.

Red skies at night usually occur when the setting sun is sending its light through a high concentration of dust particles pointing to high pressure and stable air from the west. That is good. However, if the red sky is seen in the morning it may mean a high water content in the atmosphere since a storm has most likely been moving to the east. That can mean bad weather.

Whether or not we understand that, the ancient mariners did and so did the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees of Jesus’ day that refused to read the times or discern spiritual realities when they were as obvious as the colors of the sky.

Jesus continues in His discourse with this indictment, “O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?”

It is a human foible to deny unpleasant truth or any truth that challenges our prejudices or comfortable lifestyles. If it doesn’t fit, we acquit.

Namely, if it does not fit into our neat little boxes of beliefs about religion and life, we dismiss whatever it is as outrageous, irrelevant, and false.

To dismiss Jesus this way is a tragic loss of opportunity to embrace the moment and find His timely call in our lives.