The power is back on after 51 hours of being out. Our
bouncing to other family homes is over. Our neighborhood thinned out as people
sought out air conditioned space and the usual amenities: showers, water,
toilets, and lights. The basics. Ahhh!
And the elderly found power to run their health appliances: oxygen pumps,
inhalation equipment, refrigeration for medications – all the things that allow
them to live independent lives; as much as possible anyway.
Now on to other things,
The heat continues. Breezes are easing the discomfort, but
humidity is near 50% which is muggy for most people. The skies are blue with
intermittent haze. We are told the haze is actually smoke from New Mexico and Colorado
wildfires. We believe it. In harsh winters we have received top soil dust from
the Dakotas and Nebraska .
That dust settled on our snow cap and through the winter we could see the
strata of each storm, separated by dust from the plains.
Yesterday’s heat was 97 degrees. Today’s is projected to top
100; and so too the following two days. Unusual weather for Illinois . Says something about weather
cycles, I think. Global warming is part of it; not all, but part. We harm our
planet at our own risk. Wise to do something about it for future generations. Those
are our future generations, so we would be doing it for our own families.
Nasty political climate in our nation. Shameful. Non factual
statements being made by too many; soon they will believe their own lies as
fact. The world is flat you know. The sun revolves around the Earth. The world
was made in 6 days, and on the 7th God rested. The dinosaurs,
ancient Chinese, our long ago Hebraic cousins, all came from the same timeline.
How then does carbon dating tell us some elements of our
planet are 10 billion years old, others are 2 billion years old, and still
other plant and animal remains are 100 million years old? What kind of day was
it, I wonder? 6 days and then He rested? Can’t be our kind of days. Or years
for that matter. Hmm.
Got this off the Internet yesterday: “When someone special walks into
your life and is able to change things for the better, don’t ever let them walk
away.”
Who might those someones be in your life? Special friends?
Acquaintances? Neighbors, coworkers. Maybe a boss or an employee? Perhaps a
fellow church member? Who ever it is, keep them close and help them. Be a part
of the upswing in life.
Being a part of something good, something big requires our
attention. Paying attention and lending a hand if we agree with the work to be
done. Pulling together like the tribe when they planted their first hoped-for
crop. Or maybe grinding down a side of a stone to make the first wheel under
the supervision of a friend who seemed to have this furious idea. Someone was
there to see it, to help with it.
Are we still made of this ‘stuff’? Can we participate in the
creation of what is to come that is good? Or will we sit on our hands and
witness the collapse of that which we say is good?
Martin Luther King, Jr. said once, “Cowardice asks the question: Is
it safe?
Expediency asks the question: Is it
politic?
Vanity asks the question: Is it
popular?
But
conscience asks the question: Is it right?
And then comes a time one must take a
position that
is neither safe, nor politic nor
popular – but one
must take it simply because it is
right.”
Doing the right thing at the right time. Because it is the
right thing to do. Not easy to do, but right to do. This is painful, hard work.
But it comes with rewards. With struggle
we empower the self to grow into its highest form.
A good goal for each of us and for our nation. The two go
together. There are no simple answers. Just cooperation and hard work.
Is this democratic republic ready to take on the challenges
we are called on to do? Are we ready to help it along?
This is the right day to ask that question of ourselves!
July 4, 2012
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