I'm afraid it will take more than a few forest fires to bring the left coast to repentance, but it does cause one to pause for thought. My cousin lives nearer the threat than anyone else of my acquaintance. In fact they defied the order to evacuate and took up the garden hose for defence. They posted a photo on facebook that showed the fire just over the hill from the home across the street. I'm glad to report that the danger has passed without a loss, but I believe they lost several nights of sleep.
The Los Angeles basin is called that because it is surrounded by mountains forming a semi-circle "bowl" with the Pacific ocean completing the circle. It is frequently described as an irrigated desert, and the weather patterns leave us with ideal weather all year long. Without the copious rain of Washington or Oregon, the down side is that what foliage we have is green for way too short a season. After that it is fuel for the fires. The mountain terrain that surrounds us is mostly inaccessible to firemen and their trucks. Our boasting is the lack of uncomfortable humidity, but that also creates the heightened degree of fire threat when it is hot.
But once again the natural beauty of this part of God's creation is spoiled by the depravity of man. Most of our fires are started by people. And the Station Fire, which has charred an area the size of Chicago, and killed two of our brave heroes, was just determined to be caused by an arsonist. It's the story of mankind: sin has ruined everything. Jesus doesn't put out fires, and He doesn't restrain every sin. But it is still true that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
No comments:
Post a Comment