God,
the world continues to burn
and people continue to give
dare I say
hot takes
while people flee
breathe in smoke
or wait, bags packed, for the evacuation order
And we can feel the insurance structure
heavily burdened
crumble even more
And God,
for the rest of us
we feel climate change
breathing
on the back of our necks
As we still have to plan dinner
again
a solitary action in our
household units
in what used to be
a village action
The mundane things
of going to work
or school seem so trite
in comparison to what is going on in world
Is this how we respond to tragedy God?
Jesus Christ how do we go about our lives
in the midst of all of this?
(This is a serious question–as my teen would say)
And we look at the snow
in the South
the Fire in the West
the bare mountains
the mounting costs
of insurance
And yet, Divine one
You remind as the World Turns
That there is other news too
We see films of the heliocopters
making the exact water shots
to put out the fires
Of people waiting hours in line
to pay their respects
to Jimmy Carter–
Of all of the living Presidents
sitting together at the funeral
speaking of good seeds sown
that are recognized years later…
We see the pictures of
of the Mexican
and Canadian Firefighters
who come to help
and we hear the voices
of the undocumented Californians
who could not sleep safely
in their own homes
So instead
who journey to the fireline
to fight for their unknown neighbors
The Good News does not fix the Bad News
But it reminds us to be the Mr. Rogers Helpers
God may we be the Helpers
May we find substantive ways
To listen closely to the need for help
So that we me do just
love mercy
and walk humbly with God
i.e. not for show, but because
We have this ache to make the world
a place to dwell
that is are prayer today.
Amen
Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
Here is a blog post from my colleague and friend “about where to donate ““We are still fine.
-Winds changed last night, and new evacuations were called in the Palisades fire. Bel Air Pres building is under mandatory evac as are many people’s homes. Teams are fighting their hardest to keep it from spreading any further.
-Air quality in Culver City is still not great. The winds have calmed down here, but there is still ash falling from the sky.
-We live across from the street from the fire station, and we’ve just heard siren after siren. God bless them, and all the reinforcements that have come from far and wide.
In the midst of everything, I put away our Christmas decorations last night. I couldn’t help but look at every ornament and think what it would be like to lose them all and have to start again.
Here’s a short blog I wrote last night. Please pray for these fires to end.”
Please give to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance – all funds go to help victims and will be shared with communities affected by the Eaton fire as well
https://pcusa.org/donate/dr000165-us-wildfires
https://almostnamedgrace.substack.com/p/when-everything-changes?r=25qkxh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&fbclid=IwY2xjawHvsMhleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHSk1hcvm0mTlQmSeKcfXk-Q2t1LyMB4FtLVfxHrLHniA9jND2yBWnAFkaQ_aem_gS5ggy-a82_Z7OIo3OzG0A&triedRedirect=true
katyandtheword 