On our Knees

One may wonder, in the midst of all the displays of "Mother Nature" in both force and fury these last few weeks, what God may be saying to us.  I suppose it is a natural thing to wonder.  Is he punishing us for some national sin?  Is this a shadow of something far more threatening from God - a warning, a wake up call?  Is this a sign of "global warming?" Or is this nature just doing its thing?

Truth is, these are not obviously the first Hurricane's we've seen and they won't be the last.  Fires raging in the Northwest, right here at home in Oregon stretch our coping skills and we long for the day to an end of the wind, rain, fire, smoke and question as to what is next.  While we understand the science of such events far more than the human population of the middle ages and even of one or two hundred years ago, the meteorological predictions are far more accurate, we still should never fool with nature.  Fortunately, we can see what is coming and prepare - get out of the way. Yet, the unexpected is always on the horizon and sometimes you just can't be ready for everything. No one ever thought that 50" of rain would fall from the sky!

In the end, through the eyes of faith I think one way to interpret the hurricanes, fire and smoke that have been a plague on our Nation and on our personal lives these last few months is to see this as a kind of divine wake-up call.  Does God allow such events in order that we might be woken out of our complacency?  There is no doubt that many of us have been brought to our knees in the last weeks.

We pray for an end to the devastating wind, rain and destructive flooding in Texas.  Cleaning up the destruction will take a long time and expend billions of dollars.  Just because the sun is shining does not mean a return to normalcy.

The same is now true with another Hurricane, even more powerful, approaching  the Caribbean and the Florida mainland.  All this, not to mention the multiple forest fires raging in Oregon and the Northwest that have made our lives uncomfortable and unhealthy with smoke filled air all around us.

God has brought us to our knees in prayer for safety and rain for the forests, while an end to rain for the good folks of Texas, now Florida and surrounding region.  We pray that God will settle the storms on the Sea and that lives will be moved out of harms way.  We pray that all will be generous with their assistance in giving aid and practical help.  And many, many indeed have. In times of great adversity and the suffering of others it brings out the best in all - generosity, compassion, love, selflessness - how "God like" we have become.

But in the end, while on our knees, which is always the best posture before the Almighty, we once again are reminded how small we are and how great God is; how dependent we are upon the Lord for his assistance at all times.  We cry out to the Lord, as the disciples did in the boat tossed about on the Sea in the storm:  "Lord, save us!"

We need this reminder, not just in stormy times but every day no matter how smooth and how rough life may be.  God is not an insurance policy that we never look at except n a time of crisis! May we never forget the God who loves us into life and at the same time, sometimes needs to knock us on the head to get our attention.  Did God send these storms and fire to deliberately remind us of this?  It would be a stretch to say that "God did this on purpose" and certainly would portray an image of the Almighty that portrays him as some sort of angered Ogre who reacts with fury rather than in love and mercy.

Yet, on our knees we do need to come before the Lord with humility, dependence and mercy.  In the end - He is in charge and we must never forget that in spite of the truth that "With God all things are possible," as we hear the Angel Gabriel remind the maiden Mary of Nazareth in Luke's Gospel, that it is we who are loved and we who are helpless without him. 

Let's never be so complacent, so selfish, so ungrateful, that we forget that without him, we are lost.  With him, we are loved and can trust always in his providence. God has made us for himself - and we are restless and homeless away from him. (paraphrase of St. Augustine)

"Lord, do not forget us

do not abandon us,

save us in your mercy"