Christ was taken from this earth, and yet, the early Christian community firmly believed that Christ was still with them in much more than in name only, No longer physically present, he was still very much alive and present in all the things that were happening, the preaching, the converts, the miracles, the enthusiasm of all the Church as it was growing at such a phenomenal rate. Christ was there and not there at the same time. A cloud is something there and seen, something real, giving shade, adding to the beauty of nature, often bringing welcome rain or snow. Yet a cloud, while very real, is something that cannot be captured, something that cannot be grasped, some-thing in a way so mysterious, so visible and yet so elusive. In a word, there is really something awesomely mysterious about a cloud - seemingly so tangible yet so ephemeral, beyond human control, free to come and go, to appear and disappear, always nearby yet far away, on the horizon, in the east, in the west, coming this way, yet never arriving, pausing a while and then moving on, always the same, yet constantly changing, ever so large, yet with little substance.
Clouds are indeed awesome.
Christ has ascended into Heaven and he is no longer physically on earth. Yet at the same time, Christ is more present on earth in some ways even more so than he was when he walked the land of Israel. Sacramentally, he rests quietly and unseen in countless tabernacles in every land on earth. Every church, every chapel is his home, and like his visible presence in the cloud that covered the meeting tent in the desert and Solomon's Temple, he is equally and even more so present today under the appearance of Bread. And finally, St. Paul placed all this on a very theological level when he gave his doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ, in which the Church, the people of God, are all members of one body and Christ is the head of that body.