Hope

First Week of Advent
Monday December 2, 2013

Read: Genesis 8:1-19

But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the domestic animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided… The waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.—Genesis 8:1, 5

Natural disasters, if nothing else, clarify what is important and what is not. Tornado victims who have lost most possessions, including their home and vehicles, usually say, “We may have lost everything else, but we still have each other that is what is important.”  This was true of all but the families of 24 people who were killed when one of the most devastating tornados in historical records swept through Moore, Oklahoma on May 20, 2013. The destruction was unbelievable. Several meteorologists contacted by The Associated Press used real time measurements to calculate the energy released during the storm’s life span of almost an hour. Their estimates ranged from 8 times to more than 600 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb with more experts at the high end. (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57585569/power-of-okla-tornado-surpassed-hiroshima-bomb/)

The loss of only 24 people was actually a miracle, if a miracle is divine intervention that causes extraordinary results that is what happened on May 20 in Moore. The city had been struck by a large tornado on May 3, 1999.  The citizens and local government learned from that experience. They heeded the warnings of the “storm” prophets.  When homes and new schools were rebuilt storm shelters were installed. First responders were trained. The children who were killed at school on May 20, 2013 were in one of the older elementary schools that had not yet been upgraded.

We do need to do everything we possibly can to protect the lives of our citizens and that includes reducing our carbon foot print that may be contributing to the severity and growing numbers of really bad storms.  It does not matter whether too much carbon on the earth is the result of human activity. Recycling and conserving energy are both prudent actions to take for health and economic reason. If a by-product of that is less carbon and if less carbon results in fewer strong storms, we who live on God’s green earth will benefit.

Noah took hope when he saw the top of the mountain. His ordeal was about over. We, too, can take hope as we look up and see the many ways we can make a difference on the earth today. We are called to be stewards of God’s creation. Let it be so.

Prayer: Creator God continue to create in us the will and the way to be your good stewards of the earth. Amen.

All scripture passages are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version.