Horace Yun was a plain, ordinary cloud EXCEPT -- he was a peculiar sort of greenish color. The other clouds teased him about it constantly. They would say things like "Hey Horace, you look a little green. You got a tummy ache?" or "Aagh! A cloud of poison gas!", or "Stay away from Horace! He's full of swamp gas. Pee-yew!" (of course, Horace wasn't full of swamp gas, he was just a different color).

 Horace complained to his parent-clouds: "How come I'm not like the other clouds? Why do I have to be different?" "It’s not bad to be different", his father said. "You can never be great if you're just the same as everyone else." But this didn’t make Horace feel any better.

 One day Horace overheard his parents talking about him. "Poor Horace is so unhappy that he’s unlike the other clouds", his mother said. "His color does make him stand out," admitted his father. "Of course, there's always been something unusual about Horace. Do you remember that strange light we saw near him on the night he was first gathered together? It wasn't sunlight--it wasn't moonlight--it wasn't lightning--it was something else".

 Well! When he heard that, Horace's imagination started working overtime! What could that strange light have been? He thought of all kinds of possible answers. One day, he happened to be floating over a drive-in theater which was showing the movie, "Invaders from Outer Space". Horace froze in the sky when he saw the alien space ship on the screen. That was the answer! His birth-lights must have been from an alien space ship! Flashbulbs exploded in his brain as Horace realized that he himself, Horace Yun, must be an alien cloud -- a cloud from another planet! That explained everything-- even his green color, because the aliens in the movie were green too.

 "I've got to find an alien spaceship that will take me back to my home planet", Horace said to himself. So he skipped off joyfully, scanning the horizon for any sign of strange lights.

 He soon saw far below some blinking lights which seemed to be arranged in a square shape. "It must be a square space ship", Horace said to himself, and swooped down to investigate. In the middle of the square was the word, "Pizza".

 "Are you a spaceship from planet Pizza?", Horace asked the square.

 "Hey, no way, José, I'm no spaceship! I'm a pizza sign!"

 "A pizza sign! What's a pizza sign?"

 "Hey, a pizza sign shows hungry people where they can find some pizza! Hey, ya wanna piece?"

 "No thank you", said Horace politely.

 "Well, hey, if ya don't mind, would ya please lift up a little higher? You're fogging up my lights!"

 So Horace said goodbye to the friendly pizza sign, and continued on his search for an alien space ship. Soon he saw some more strange lights, which flashed in different colors: first green, then yellow, then red. The lights seemed to be coming from a small box hanging from a wire above the ground. Horace lowered himself down to speak with the box.

 "Which planet are you from?" Horace asked the box.

 "Planet? I don't have much to do with planets. Though I do see a Saturn pass by every once in a while" (the box blinked yellow at his own joke). "You see, I'm a traffic signal, and my business is with cars, not extraterrestrial objects. Except for galaxies -- Ford Galaxies, I mean!" (this time he blinked red).

 "What does a traffic signal do?", asked Horace politely.

 "Why, I make sure the cars take turns, and keep them from running into each other", said the box. If it weren't for me, there would be all kinds of mixups and smashups. Whoops!" The box snapped on his red light just in time to keep a huge 18-wheeler from turning a VW Beetle into frog food.

 "I'd better not distract you while you're directing traffic", said Horace. "But please, if an alien spaceship ever passes by, could you direct it my way?"

 "I've heard people say that Mercedes are out of this world, but I don't think that's exactly what they meant", said the box as he turned red in all directions to let some children cross. "Still, I'll keep a lookout."

 Horace thanked the traffic signal and floated off to look some more. Far off on the horizon, he saw a beam of light flash, then another beam, then another. Surely this must be a spaceship! He turned on the steam as he raced over towards the source of the beam.

 The beam came from what looked like a tower standing straight and tall by the ocean shore. Horace was so sure it was a spaceship that he didn't even bother to ask. He was winded from his long sprint, so he could only pant out: "When are you taking off?"

 "I never take off", replied the tower. "I'm always on the job, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If I took off, ships might get lost or wrecked on the rocks. "

 "What do you mean?", Horace asked, dismayed.

 "You see, I'm a lighthouse", replied the tower. "I guide the ships on their courses with my bright beam."

 "Oh", said Horace in a very small voice. Then he said, "You wouldn't happen to have guided any spaceships recently, would you?"

 "I see lots of passenger ships and cargo ships, but spaceships are not my kettle of fish."

 Horace was miserably discouraged. He drooped off without even saying "thank you". But as he moped and gloomed, Horace's mind went back to all the lights that he had met on his search. It seemed that they were all quite happy with themselves and their work. They all seemed to have a light inside which made them shine even brighter on the outside.

 Horace became curious. He went back to the lighthouse. "I'm sorry I was so rude to you just now", he said.

 "Think nothing of it", said the lighthouse. "I could see you had something on your mind."

 "There is something on my mind", said Horace. "I wonder if you'd mind telling me why you're so happy? There must be something which is making you feel really good on the inside."

 "There is", said the lighthouse. " Being helpful to others makes me feel great. People appreciate me, and I know that what I'm doing is really worthwhile."

 Horace went back and asked the traffic signal and the pizza sign the same question, and they gave him similar answers. "If being helpful makes them feel so good, it might make me feel better too. I think I'm going to start being helpful, just like them."

Horace began looking for opportunities to be helpful. When he saw people sweating and gasping out in the hot sun, he blocked the sun and gave them some cool shade. When the moon was full, he spread himself out like a lampshade to give the moonlight a soft glow. He sprinkled fresh raindrops on parched fields, and kept the other rainclouds away from the children playing outdoors. He began to have so much fun being helpful, he forgot all about his search for an alien spaceship.

One day Horace passed over a bunch of people who were shooting a movie. Ever since he'd passed over that drive-in, Horace had a special interest in movies, so he swooped down to investigate. He overheard the director complaining: "Now in this scene, we need Cecil the art thief to make a cloud of smoke to cover his getaway. " The director turned around and saw Horace. "Perfect!", shouted the director, clapping his hands. "Sign him up!" So Horace played the part of a Cecil's getaway cloud in the detective movie, "See Cecil Seize Easels".

After that, Horace acted in many plays and movies. His favorite role was the Oobleck cloud in a live production of Dr. Seuss' story, "Bartholemew and the Oobleck."

Some time later, on a moonless night Horace saw way off to the side a glowing cloud. "How can that cloud glow when there's no light?", Horace asked himself. "I will turn aside and investigate this strange sight."

When he got close, the cloud called to him: "Horace." Horace was surprised. "How do you know my name? Who are you?" "I am the cloud of the Lord's presence", replied the cloud. "It was I who was that strange light which shone on the day you were first assembled together. "

Horace was speechless. So it wasn't an alien space ship after all!

The cloud went on. " I've been watching you, and I know that you are a helper. Do you know that I'm a helper too? When Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt, I went in front of them and guided them on their way. And I protected them when the Egyptian army tried to kill them."

Horace felt a warm tingling inside himself.

"Now the Lord wants you to be one of His attendants. The Lord has ordained clouds and thick darkness to surround Him, and He has made His throne a place of righteousness and justice. Your green color is pleasing to Him, and so is your righteousness and justice in helping others. So come Horace, good and faithful servant of the Lord, and enter into the joy of the Lord's presence."

So from that time on Horace stayed close by the Lord's throne, except that the Lord often sends him out on special missions. For the Lord has made this promise to His children:

The Lord is your keeper: the Lord is your shade at your right hand.

The sun shall not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil, He will keep your life

The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time

forth, and even for evermore.

Maybe someday the Lord will send Horace to give YOU shade. Do you think so?