“Praise to the Lord, who, when
tempests their warfare are waging,
Who, when the elements madly
around thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease,
turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.”
Joachim Neander, 1680
Trans. by Catherine Winkworth, 1863
17th-century thoughts, applicable to 21st century wildfires.
Good morning, Lord. Still the raging wildfires, still the raging tempests in our souls. Breathe on us, Spirit of God. Fill us with Your peace and protection. Let not our hearts be troubled (John 14:27), in Jesus’ name.
Fury is my middle name;
I saw the good but lived the bad,
and know exactly who to blame,
and I am therefore kinda glad
that I had opportunity
to bring an end to some of this,
to bring some local victory,
to send away folks we won’t miss
that they might contemplate their days
behind grey walls of durance vile,
to try to think upon some ways
to obtain a smuggled file
that might cut through iron bars,
but that only works for movie stars.
You saw the good and bad, Andrew — thank you for sharing some of the wisdom you learned along the way,
Breathe on us, breath of God. And, fill us with the bread of heaven.
Amen!