Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Gone in a flash

For anyone who lives in California, the wildfires that are burning in Southern California are a frightening reminder of how quickly life can change, and how very careful one must be in our dry or drought seasons.

Apparently at least some of these fires were deliberately set: a willful act born of what -- power? Rage? Immaturity? It would be hard enough to watch your home burn as an act of nature, but soul wrenching to see it go as an act of arson. And the anger...oh, how do you get over that!

More than half a million people have been evacuated. Stardom and wealth make no difference to the flames, and expensive homes of prominent people have been destroyed right along with homes of people like you and me.

Animals and pets are being cared for in this disaster, however, unlike during Katrina. How terrible it would be to leave a loved pet to fend for themselves in an evacuation!

The most important things in life are people, not things -- and yet we all have attachments to our things, our photos, our possessions, our homes. Priorities change when we are threatened by catastrophe. What is important to us crystalizes in that moment.

So what would you take with you? What is important enough to save if your home and life are threatened?

Answer that, and you know where your priorities are.

Pray for healing for the fire's victims. Pray for safety for the firefighters as they beat back the flames. Pray for restoration of the savaged earth. And hug your loved ones close.

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