This talk greatly surprised me, from the very beginning I
was caught off guard. Peters began on the topic of clouds. It amazed me to see
the way one was able to tie in the interpretation of clouds with such a broad
scope of communication in various fields of study. Theology, Astronomy,
Science, Naval strategy, industrialization of nations, art, psychology, etc… Peters,
through this talk, reached everyone in the audience on such a deeper level than
the seemingly simple clouds that he outlined his talk around. Peters inspired
me and showed me the deep perspective one can create in communication.
Along with being a communications major I have a second
major in religious studies and currently my twin brother is studying for the priesthood
majoring in theology. I say this to communicate that we have had many deep
discussions on the matter of theology but never has it come close to trying to
express an idea of God through the clouds. Peters spoke in this regard primarily
from a Christian-Judeo analysis. He specifically brought up the passage in the
10th Chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew in which Christ
instructs his twelve apostles that they can receive a sign through the weather.
The colors of the sky. Peters took something that modern day contemporary society
has labeled as boring, boring to the extent that it is a sign of a failing
conversation when brought up, and expanded the idea of weather into something
that is powerful and through the tie in with theology, beyond full human comprehension.
This transition from mediocrity to supreme greatness literally caused me to get
out of my seat in the auditorium and get closer a few rows in order to hear
better. A young woman towards the front asked a question that brought my mind
back to the matter of spirituality even towards the end long after Peters had
expanded his seminar into further areas of discussion. She was observing a photograph
of the so called “Mushroom Cloud” that was formed after the detonation of the
Hydrogen Bomb in the Pacific Southwest. She asked, “Doesn’t this show the power
of man, the ability to control our environment and create this?” and it raised
a deep theological question in my mind. In response I asked myself, “man in
contemporary society has enormous power, yet still has a desire to create. If
God, from a theological perspective creates out of love… Do we seek to grasp
this power and creation in a subconscious attempt to further understand this
very intimate perspective of God?” yet at the same time it also reminded me of
a quote from Friedrich Nietzche in which Nietzche says “God is Dead, and Man
has killed Him”. To recap, this mental wrestling dual of belief and non-belief
in relation to the actions of man and it’s causation…. All stemmed from a talk
about clouds. Something so simple and taken for granted has now sparked this
intellectual theological battle inside of my mind. Is this not the goal of
communication? To cause one to think further beyond one’s own surroundings?
Peters overall gave a brilliant talk, one I will not forget soon. And while my
specific reaction of his perspective sparked a theological insight, I am almost
sure that others in the audience received an insight into the other various fields
of study that I mentioned in the introduction. Peters, in my mind, created a
beautiful thing. He took a topic seemingly unrelated to anything but the study
of the atmosphere and created a road from this simple idea that stemmed into
the production of a search for deeper truth in various perspectives.
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