Tag Archives: Disasters

Unnatural Disaster

Living in the Spirit
May 23, 2018

Scripture Reading: Psalm 29:7-11

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
   the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 

The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,
   and strips the forest bare;
   and in his temple all say, ‘Glory!’

 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
   the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
May the Lord give strength to his people!
   May the Lord bless his people with peace! –Psalm 29

The Psalmist writes using what we call natural disaster metaphors to describe the power of God. We who live on the Great Plains are well acquainted with wind uprooting trees and floods. This year we have particularly been besieged by fire. Draught has left our earth very vulnerable. When the earth is vulnerable so are the people who inhabit it.

Yet it is this All-Powerful God that gives us the strength to recover, rebuild, replant. We also learn from such experiences to practice prudent prevention. After seven children were killed by a gigantic tornado in one of our public schools five years ago, many districts have taken steps to improve their storm readiness.

God is also with us in the unnatural disasters as we once again hear of a young man shooting classmates and teachers. This time in Santa Fe, Texas. The TV showed pictures of him performing in a church program just a few weeks ago. What are we not getting? How do we reach our children to make them feel safe? How do we instill the love of God throughout our communities so that no one finds killing a way to self-worth? What kinds of prudent prevention do we need to practice regarding unnatural disaster?

What are we so angry about? What are we so fearful of? We turn to God when there is nowhere else to go but we seem to leave God there when the TV cameras are gone, and we have buried the dead. We return to futile pursuits targeted at definitions of success that are void of the love of God. Until we turn that around we will continue picking up the pieces of unnatural disasters.

Prayer: Holy One, forgive us for turning away from you. Help us to see your will and follow your way until we learn to live in the light of your love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

The Path of Love

natural disastersAdvent
December 7, 2015

Scripture Reading: Zephaniah 3:14-20

The Lord has taken away the judgements against you,
   he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
   you shall fear disaster no more.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion;
   do not let your hands grow weak.
The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
   a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
   he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing –Zephaniah 3:15-17

Oklahoma ranks third* in rate of natural disasters among states in the USA. Texas and California are one and two and are both considerably larger in geography as well as population. Such a ranking is a dubious distinction. Just this week I had a huge old oak tree removed from my back yard that came down in high straight winds a couple of weeks ago. I spent the night in a hotel last week because my electricity was off, the result of a very strange ice storm that broke tree limbs and power poles but did not freeze the road. The promise of fearing disasters no more is thus very compelling for me and my neighbors.

Actually I am not sure fear is the response most of us have to natural disasters anymore, we have become so accustomed to them that preparedness before and quick cleanup after are rather automatic. I remember national news being surprised at how quickly Oklahomans responded to the Oklahoma City bombing. While it certainly was not a natural disaster, our experience primarily with tornados paved the way for our immediate response. I fear we are all now becoming likewise accustomed to disasters caused by humans. We even must deal with whether our weird weather could be our own fault.

I take solace in our scripture today that promises God’s renewal of God’s love for it is the source of God’s victory and ours. Advent is the season for us to return to God’s womb and be restored in love as we await the coming of the Promised One whose way is the path out of disaster.

Prayer: Lord, we relish the gift of your love, help us to open ourselves to it so that we might better love through our lives. Amen.

*Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.