I can’t help but talk about the devastation over the weekend. As we all well know, a series of storms swept over the country on Saturday night and into Sunday morning. The wake of its path was tremendous and horrible. They say that as many as 70 people are believed to have been killed in western Kentucky, and the death toll could exceed 100.
We see the photos on the news, and even though this is close to home, it is not our home. It is somewhere else, some other place, with people we don’t know. Of course, we feel tremendous sorrow for them. But their lives have been altered forever. Obviously, this is true for those who have been lost in the destruction, but for their families and all the people who have lost their homes, businesses, schools, and on.
This reminds us of how swift life can be. The Universe is in a constant state of change, and so is everything in it — including us. There is not one millisecond that passes in which you or I have not changed to some degree. And so it all goes around us.
This is a hard concept for me. I am a “stay the same” person. I like repetition. I like routine and order. I would tell you that “mundane” is my middle name except for it is Cecile. But you get the point.
The change taking place is often unnoticed in our lives, but sometimes it is abrupt, intrusive, remarkable, impactful. Either for the good or the bad, depending on our perception of it. One thing is for certain. Change is inevitable.
I have no advice for this, as I can’t comprehend what those people in Maysfield, Kentucky, must be going through right now. Or. Someone who is in the middle of a bitter divorce. I can’t imagine how terrible it must feel to be homeless, hungry, and cold every night of my life. I don’t know what it must be like for those who suffer from a life-threatening illness. And the list goes on. I can only say that I have seen them, observed them, and each person goes through their lives differently, trying to adapt to this change in their lives. I send my blessings to them for that.
Here is the deepest part of it for me, though — the spiritual side. I put a high degree of my “self” into trying to “figure out” what my human body is supposed to do with this living soul within me. I often wonder how the spiritual works. I grew up learning laws and dictates about how this is supposed to go. Heck, even commandments. But I’m not sure a bunch of empowered men from a couple of thousand years ago had those ideas right. In fact, I’m pretty sure they were spitballing.
I believe what happens in these “Universal Changes” are under no direct orders or edicts from a god up above. I do not believe this supreme being said, “I’m going to make one hell of a storm and destroy Maysfield, killing 70 people. In fact, those 70 people.”
No way. I think the cause can be measured scientifically. The atmosphere and jet streams moved across the United States and came together in such a way that it produced a line of powerful storms which took a path based on those variables coming together in a certain time sequence.
And spiritually? I am left wondering, once again, how this all goes.
One thing I think is that we are supposed to be good. In whatever all this is. We are supposed to be kind and compassionate. Caring. Warmhearted. In all that we do.
And. As we move through our days, along our paths of change, we should make sure “our wake” leaves a trail of goodness and betterment. And not the other way around.
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“There’s nothing more narcissistic than being sure that you are built in the image of an all-powerful Creator-God, and that same God answers your prayers, knows your name, and has a personal relationship with you.”
― David G. McAfee
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“God has no religion.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
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“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
― Soren Kierkegaard
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The storm, and the spirit. The change.
