Fire on the Mountain

[create_destiny]

It never rains in Chico in the summer. Except last Saturday when it rained very briefly. I was at a backyard bar-be-que when fat drops plopped in the dust. We were talking about the floods in Iowa, the fires and drought in California when it happened. Someone said Mother Nature's pissed. I said, She's a Republican. Just look at the unequal distribution of resources.



The day I took the above photo, more than 1000 wildfires were sparked by dry lightning storms. One week later these fires are still burning. I am near the center of the thickest smoke seen in the photo below. The red squares indicate the biggest fires. I have monk-friends who live in the Shasta-Trinity wilderness. Their beloved monastery is in danger and they have evacuated, taking ancient icons and encased slivers of Saint's bones with them.



At night I pray to the same God who left a toddler locked in an apartment with his dead mother for seven days. I pray mercy, mercy, light. Something unseen prevents me from going too deep into the why of it all. Otherwise I would grab God by the throat and say, Today, you will be judged by the condemned. As it is, I lie low in patches of grace.

Comments

[yasue.livejournal.com]

How is this God's fault?

[createdestiny.livejournal.com]

The toddler or the fires? Actually, it doesn't matter because he has power over and knowledge of both. If we were to hear the cries of a child and knew that the child's mother had passed away, we would not have waited seven days to help, and if we did, we would have been held accountable on judgment day for not showing mercy sooner. God waited seven days before he sent help, and that's supposed to be okay?

Unacceptable in my book. God's ways are not our ways Damn straight.

My only hope in this case is that the father of that child was an absentee asshole and is repenting heavily and vowing to step up and change. Otherwise, I see no point in idly sitting back while a child cries for seven days, trying to wake up his dead mother.

I can accept the fires. The needless suffering of a child, not so much.

[yasue.livejournal.com]

God gives free will. He allows consequences for our own sin now. If God rescued us everytime something evil resulted in sin (or from sin itself), we would not be able to understand was was wrong with our actions in the first place. And He will repay the evildoers and He will deliver the righteous in the end.
It sounds like you have a problem with faith. Indeed, this os not God's problem but yours. Seek Him.

[createdestiny.livejournal.com]

What kind of free will does a two year old child have? How did this child sin?

[yasue.livejournal.com]

Calamity is an effect of sin. Maybe not his sin, but sin in the world or sin from someone else. It sucks that that's the world we live in. But it's not God's fault and it's not His desire. The one who orchestrated that was the devil himself. The whole point of God coming to earth and living and suffering and dying on a cross as a man, was to conquer death so that we would have the ability to choose life and to choose goodness over evil. Until the end of the world or our own deaths, however, we are going to have to put up with the world around us and the consequences that come from the evil we, and people around us, choose. God never wanted it this way- we want it this way when we comply with satan.
Quit arguing with the One who knows more than you do and ask Him for assistance. Don't direct your senseless anger at me.

[somethinghead.livejournal.com]

The "senseless anger" was originally directed towards God, not you. You chose to intervene on His part. God can stand up for himself, can't he? And why is it senseless to feel anger and pain over tragedy in the world? Simple unquestioned obedience does should not make a person more righteous than someone who wrestles with his or her faith and chooses to ask the difficult questions.

Rather than showing sympathy towards someone who is feeling pain over injustices in the world, you've taken up a soapbox. This does not provide comfort, but rather intensifies pain and isolation. It's an "I told you so" at an inappropriate moment. It is possible to reconcile personal faith with social concern without becoming self-righteous.

createdestiny I'm sorry if I've overstepped my bounds here, but this exchange bothered me.

[createdestiny.livejournal.com]

No, you haven't overstepped your bounds. I was holding off because this person is very young and also a recovering Protestant (which explains the soapbox).

[yasue.livejournal.com]

You're right in that I should not have gotten frustrated. I honestly was trying to help however. I guess what upset me about it (and I'm really directing this at you now createddestiny) is that I know God doesn't deserve the blame, but satan, and that he- satan- is winning when she blames God. Because he wants us to direct our anger at God. It causes a separation between us and God which opens a way for more evil.
On top of that, I used to be frustrated at God for a certain aspect of salvation. I asked Him to help me understand. It took years, but at the right time, He did reveal the truth to me and I saw that I was at fault and I had a totally warped view of Him in the first place (that was when I came to Orthodoxy).
Anyway, I hope this comment helps explain where I was coming from.

[whosplittheatom.livejournal.com]

I'd shut my trap if I were you, because you really have no idea here.

[yasue.livejournal.com]

And you are?

[whosplittheatom.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, scratch that. It's not my place. I've known createdestiny for quite a few years and my immediate reaction to someone trying to preach to my friends is to get defensive. It's a bad habit and I'm trying to break it. And as she said, I used to be terrible, and I still am. I've just learned after a decade of struggling through God issues that people and family and friends are infinitely more important to me than the propagation of some abstract theology or arbitrary angle on "truth". NOt to discount you or where you're at, but to be fair not everyone is in the same place, nor should everyone be in the same place. So again I apologize for being brash.

[ygolonac.livejournal.com]

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"

He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!"

Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.

(joke written by Emo Philips)

[whosplittheatom.livejournal.com]

Ha, so true!

You've probably heard, that the only problem with Baptists is that they don't hold them under long enough...

[createdestiny.livejournal.com]

David, I appreciate it, but please let it go. She's very young and you were just like her once upon a time.

[whosplittheatom.livejournal.com]

Once upon a time David was an annoying prick? Well, unfortunately I still am, no matter how hard I try to tone it down. Argh.

But hey, doesn't every story that begins with "once upon a time" end with "and they all lived happily ever after"? ;)

[90-percent-sure.livejournal.com]

That toddler should have prayed harder!

[yasue.livejournal.com]

Right. Because God just created us to torture us. *eye roll*

[createdestiny.livejournal.com]

Sarcasm is not a virtue.

[yasue.livejournal.com]

I don't claim to be perfect. I have a lot of work to do.

[90-percent-sure.livejournal.com]

You may want to start with therapy. You're absolutely delusional with the god-happy.

[yasue.livejournal.com]

Lol.

[pavaneofstars.livejournal.com]

Wow, that satellite image really puts it into perspective. I cannot wait for this smoke to clear.

[anodyne19148.livejournal.com]

I don't know you really well, but I thought about you when I read about the CA fires. I think wild fires are by far the scariest of natural disasters. Stay safe.

[createdestiny.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It's not a threat where I live (though the air is really bad). It's just crazy to think about all these fires. And then there's stuff like this.

[anodyne19148.livejournal.com]

Oh, poor sweet cat. I just love animals.

[nodressrehersal.livejournal.com]

I pray mercy, mercy, light. Something unseen prevents me from going too deep into the why of it all. Otherwise I would grab God by the throat and say, Today, you will be judged by the condemned. As it is, I lie low in patches of grace.

Heartbreaking and stunning and powerful all at the same time.