I was thinking just now about how this time last year, we were in Nashville visiting friends. We took a special train into downtown to see what had been publicized as the country's best fireworks event. It was pretty cool. But mostly, it was rained out. The concert was cut off early. The fireworks started early. And the second deluge started as the grand finale was getting started.
It was quite an experience. The kettle corn, the cow ponchos, the Nashville PR video that repeated ad nauseum -- these are fond memories. (Well, not the video, but the rest of it.) But then I got thinking how the memories of that big rain must now be strangely distorted for natives by the horrible flooding they experienced earlier this spring.
And there are others. For some reason, it seems like this spring has brought more news of destructive flash floods than any other rainy season I remember. And the earthquakes. For a while there it seemed like there was one a week.
Hurricane and fire season has barely begun. There are so many ways in which the earth speaks to us, warning us to be more careful.
But instead, we have a huge oil spill in the Gulf. "Spill" is clearly not the right word for the gushing spout of destruction pouring into the ocean, but I haven't yet heard a word that works for me. I have mostly been feeling fairly resigned about that -- it will alter the world in ways that will be the new normal for the rest of my life. We can only begin to imagine what that will mean.
On this "Independence" Day, will we begin to notice how dependent we truly are? Will we work to partner with the earth, instead of confining and controlling it in ways that ultimately turn on us? Let us pray that wisdom and humility will prevail.
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