
This past fall, our Children’s Choir was planning to sing two of their favorite songs about Noah’s Ark at the annual Blessing of the Animals service. But it was just days before the service when Hurricane Helene came through and caused so much suffering in western North Carolina and elsewhere. We quickly realized that singing whimsical songs about torrential rains and deadly floods wouldn’t feel appropriate that week, when flooding of biblical proportions was all too real for our neighbors. So the call was made to skip those songs and save them for another time when perhaps they would not seem so insensitive. I think the kids understood.
Last Sunday, I got a touch of deja vu as I was listening to the scripture readings. There were many references to water, of course, since it was the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus. But I couldn’t help but notice the multiple references to FIRE in the readings as well:
When you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. - Isaiah 43:2b-3a
The voice of the Lord splits the flames of fire; the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writhe and strips the forests bare. - Psalm 29:7, 9
“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” - Luke 3:16b-17
Yikes! With deadly and destructive wildfires raging across southern California, these normally powerful verses suddenly sounded uncomfortable and confusing. Why must God “strip the forests bare?” Why did the flames of the Eaton fire consume St. Mark’s Episcopal Church campus in Altadena? And when might these seemingly “unquenchable” blazes finally be contained?
While these questions raced through my mind, I was comforted by Kevin’s beautiful sermon about water being a reminder of our baptisms and our belovedness. Both water and fire, of course, are essential elements of life that allow us to survive, which is exactly why the Bible refers to them with such frequency. Water cleans us, refreshes us, and sustains us. Fire warms us and cooks the food that nourishes us. Earlier this month, some of us sat around a beautiful fire at our house and enjoyed good fellowship as we listed to our Christmas greenery crackle in the flames and watched our marshmallows turn golden brown. I love fire and water, at least in quantities I can control.
But control is almost always an illusion, isn’t it? We don’t like to think about this often, but from time to time, we are faced with the undeniable truth that so much of life is beyond our control. Our task, then, is to return again to our baptism and our belovedness. There’s so much we cannot control, but as God’s children, we can trust in God and continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers. We can persevere in resisting evil, proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ, seek and serve Christ in all persons, strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being. And whenever we come up short on any of these tasks, we can try again next time.
Even as our hearts have remained with the people of Western NC, we have watched in horror as neighborhoods across the Los Angeles region have been decimated. And while pundits and politicians have been busy playing the blame game on both sides of the country, the people who have lost their loved ones, their pets, their homes, and their livelihoods are suffering. Whether they live nearby or far way, we are called to offer our compassion. After being abruptly confronted with their lack of control, they need to know more than ever that they exist in a world in which love and justice reign. And as we all wrestle with a changing climate, we must lean ever further into the practices of our faith that refresh us and sustain us as clearly as water and fire.
Yours in Christ,
Carmen
P.S. Episcopal Relief & Development continues their tireless ministry with those dealing from the effects of recent hurricanes and wildfires. To learn more and support their work, visit: https://www.episcopalrelief.org
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