Most of us have never been in the Wharton State Forest I southern Jersey. It’s in Hammonton. If you wonder where you’ve heard that name before, look at the package f New Jersey blueberries. It’s the largest fire in years, with more than 13,500 acres having been burned, started possibly by an illegal campfire. For many of us, our image of a forest fire comes from having seen the Disney film Bambi. Mine sure does.
New Jersey and Northeast region hasn’t suffered from droughts the way that other parts of the country has, but we’ve had beautiful sunny days leaving the ground dry and our gardens needing water.
Water is so precious and the lack of it drives people to migrate. Droughts in parts of Central America, not to mention environmental destruction, much of it by American owned companies, have only made matters worse. It’s important that as a Nation we support environmental activism among our neighbors to the south as well as in our own country. We talk about the future, but there won’t be a good one without not just concern but action to protect our planet.
Prayer for the Day
Images of uncontrolled fire stirs deep fear in us, O God,
For we cannot imagine how terrible it must be;
We remember photos of large fires with people fleeing,
And we shudder at the thought of rampaging fire.
Give us more than comfort, O Lord, give us the will
To create policies that mitigate such dangers.
In the name of the One who calls us to action,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it.”
- Tennessee Williams, from The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore (1911-1983)
A house you can rebuild; a bridge you can restring; a washed-out road you can fill in. But there is nothing you can do about a tree but mourn.”
- Louise Dickinson Rich, American writer, from We Took to the Wood
Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against the evildoers?
If the Lord had not been my help, my would soon live in the land of silence.
When I thought, “My foot is slipping,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.
Psalm 94: 16-19