Anticipating a busy period in my life, I had already written something about resolutions and good intentions as this week’s reflection on Jesus proclaiming good news to the poor, release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, freedom to those who are oppressed,* the year of the Lord’s favor.* I was just going to do a little editing and add the finishing touches when the brushy hills around Los Angeles burst into flames, and all I could think about was the safety of my family and friends who live in the path of destruction.
Today, I look at photographs of places where the fires have leveled entire neighborhoods in the city that I still think of as home, even though I have not lived there for over thirty years.
Today, the fires are slowly being contained, but the fast-moving, dry winds called the Santa Anas are still blowing, and thousands of people have already lost everything to the flames.
Today, my heart aches, and I wonder what it can possibly mean that these scriptures are fulfilled when so many are in so much pain, not just in Los Angeles, but all over the world.
Today, I do not have any wisdom, or even any pious platitudes, to offer. Unlike Jesus, I am unable to proclaim good news in the face of disaster. The best I have right now is laughter, because I’ve just noticed the card on my desk that reads, “Due to the lack of experienced trumpeters, the end of the world has been postponed for three weeks.”
What brings you to laughter in the face of disaster?
-- Deborah Sokolove, Seekers Church
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For another meditation on fire and faith, read Steve Garnaas-Holmes’s poem/prayer “What Endures” on his Unfolding Light website.
