It’s almost the middle of October, a little more than two weeks to the end of what we call the hurricane season. We were badly battered by Ida and it’s going to take quite some time to clean up. Out West, firefighters are battling a wildfire the size of Rhode Island, which may be a little state but a very large fire, more than a million acres.
It’s difficult for us in the East to comprehend the enormity of the West or of its wildfires. Last year more than four million acres burned, which is about the size of Connecticut. More than 6,500 persons were involved in fighting the Dixie Fire with hundreds of airplanes, trucks, and bulldozers.
Fires are still burning, and Atlantic storms are still brewing. And Congress dawdles over proposals to seriously cut the climate catastrophe we face, the embers still being fueled by big oil, big gas, and their political contributions.
Prayer for the Day
Like the singer in Godspell, we cry, “When wilt thou save the people?
O God of mercy when?” When wilt thou save the people, we cry.
Feeling helpless, we watch our political leaders dally about,
As fires burn and storms rage about us, O God,
Grant us not only wisdom but ways to challenge the stalemates
That are destroying us as a society and a people.
In the name of the One who overturned the tables of the moneychangers,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
It is necessary that laws should be passed to prohibit the use of corporate funds directly or indirectly for political purposes. It is even more necessary that such laws should be thoroughly enforced.
Theodore Roosevelt, President 1901-1909 (1856-1919)
Action is the antidote to despair.
Joan Baez, singer, activist
Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right,
For soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance will be revealed.
Isaiah 56: 1