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]

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...