Faith Venture

Hello, we’ve only just returned from a 17-day holiday to Australia and New Zealand. Not only are our bodies adjusting to the time zone but it is also 11 deg F outside after having been in summertime. It was a wonderful trip. Met many interesting people.

Even though I’m continuing a mental health break from incessant news cycles, I am aware of global events—including the California wildfires.

It’s not surprising, but still sad, to hear about how some people shout out on social media about how the people are wealthy or Democrat or liberal or something and, therefore, not deserving of our sympathy.

Some people emphasize the adjective (liberal, wealthy, black, white, etc.); I prefer to place emphasis on the noun (people).

The Germans have a way of building words to reflect complex ideas. Schadenfreude describes taking pleasure from others’ misfortunes.

Let us consider the Christian virtue of Compassion.

Rather, let us consider people as people. Particular weather conditions over the course of a year set up an ideal environment for sudden and intense fires. With barely enough notice to save themselves, people evacuated with what they could carry. They watched their houses destroyed. More than the belongings were the memories that went up in smoke. Their entire lives reset.

Other parts of our country, and indeed the entire planet, fall victim to natural disasters be it floods or tornadoes or earthquakes. These kill people. They destroy homes and villages. They erase physical memories and keepsakes.

They all deserve our compassion and our help.

Often overlooked are the thousands of people on the ground at these disasters helping others at personal peril and sacrifice. They also deserve compassion and help.

We belong to a United Methodist congregation. The United Methodist Church has a mission arm (UMCOR) that is often among the first on the scene providing assistance. If you belong to a Christian denomination, ask if they have this sort of mission. If yes, donate. If no, ask why not.

In response, pray and do.

This entry was posted on January 14, 2025 at 5:38 am and is filed under Compassion, Service. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.