Questions.

Today is a new day. We found ourselves glued to the TV last night. I didn't want to watch a storm the size of Texas tear up Texas, but I couldn't help myself. When I finally went to bed Geraldo was bracing himself against a small palm tree, trying not to be blown away in 130 mile an hour winds. Get out of the weather Geraldo. He must feel totally beat up today.

We had questions while we watched. Piglet asked me if God could pour out wrath on us. I replied that God can do anything he wants to do. He's God. He made the world with his word and can destroy it in a word. We quietly thought about that.

This morning I read about the difference between Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees or the religious leadership of the day, had developed a perverted form of law observance that they beat the people down with. They profited from the peoples guilt. They taxed them and exploited them. They were puffed up with their own importance and position. They were not ready for Jesus when he came. They were looking for a political Messiah one who would come in power and rule.

Jesus came humbly, poorly, he poured his life out for the people. He lifted up the truth of God and let it be light. He was the light of the world and we knew him not.

In the Old Testament there are so many stories of people dying for lack of belief. This morning we watched people who spoke of having parties last night. How can one ignore a warning that includes writing your social security number on your arm?! Did that have to be spelled out for some? Surely not.

One of the many times that the children of Israel turned to false Gods and brought the Lords anger on them he sent vipers among them. As they lay dying Moses lifted up his staff with a serpent on it. If the people would but LOOK at it they would be healed. 40,000 died that day. 40,000 that would die, rather than look.

People are no different now. I do not believe to know the answer if these storms are the wrath of God but they may be a wake up call. It is only a sugggestion. I do not believe that people in Texas are any different than anyone else. They are not singled out to be the victims of fury. What do we think when we see the eye of a storm that is 600 miles wide? Are we really the product of some haphazard grouping of molecules? Can order ever come from chaos?

Just as in the days long ago people worshipped the gods of power and wealth, they called him Bael. They worshipped the gods of sex and pleasure and practiced infanticide. The set their infants in the burning arms of Molech to offer them as a sacrifice. We offer them with saline induced abortion, they too are burned to death.
We change our language to make it sound medical. We dress up our actions in fancy terms. We place labels of bondage around our amoebic beginnings and call them rights. Yes, we have rights. We have the right to look upon the light of the world or turn our faces away. We can hear with our ears the call upon our hearts and lives or tune the message out. We can choose whom we will serve.

That large eye spoke to me. For me it is a call to pray, a call to turn, to seek the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, and minds. He has said that when we do this, He will hear and heal our land. The Lord is slow to anger, and full of loving kindness, each morning holds new mercy and new hope. Not that one should bear the brunt of wrath but that by some, the glory of God would be revealed, and his hand seen. Some are trusted to endure so that others would see. We are a nation as torn apart by our beliefs and ideals as a hurriciane brings destruction. We are a divided land. We are a divided people. Will we look? Will we see? Will we forget about our meager acts of self reliance? Will we turn as a people? Will we stand and see the healing of our land? I hope so. I love these people and this land.