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We were back in Houston from the wedding in Utah before Melanie and our Grandkids arrived from Vidor. The following Saturday morning several of us met at the church at 3:30 AM and left at 3:45 AM with tools and supplies. We drove past Beaumont, over to Vidor, and took a care package to our son-in-law and red licorice as a birthday present for his Dad. It was completely black as we drove up to the house. There was a generator running. We could shine the flashlights and see the big pine trees that had fallen. There were about 20 of these 50+ foot tall trees within falling distance of the house. Nine had fallen. One was leaning against the flag pole. One glanced the side of the house and damaged the carport. The others all fell to the south. I asked the Bishop how this happened. He said,
"we gathered up our stuff, gave a blessing on the house, evacuated, and left what happened in the hands of the Lord."
So am I saying God interfered in natural processes to protect my daughter's father-in-law's house? Yes, in so much as there is a protective force around those who keep the commandments and live a good life. Does that mean I am saying God interfered in natural processes to bring all of the trauma to New Orleans? No, although this same protective force does not surround those who ignore the commandments and do what the scriptures call an abomination.
The Hopi Indians have a word for our day: koyaanisqatsi. This word means life is out of balance, disintegrating, in turmoil, and going crazy. It is a call for another way of living, a call to take time to think, time to ponder, and time to become in tune with natural processes. There is a wonderful 1982 documentary film by the same name, which has no words, simply using images to illustrates how modern life is going faster and faster and burning itself up.3.130 In the Bible there is a verse in Isaiah with the same message:
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Isaiah 5:24 "Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel."
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The implication is simply we create our own fire, our own destruction, and in effect our own hell. And we do this by simply going faster and faster and faster until we burn out ourselves and our families and our society, completely. Maybe this is why storms are an important part of life.
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paradoxes