Friday, May 24, 2013

Light in a world filled with chaos

Does it seem as if the world has gone mad, or is it just me? We have had so many things happen that are just ‘unspeakable’…earthquakes, floods, fires, and all sorts of mass killings. Just yesterday a man in London stabbed a man to death. The victim, an unarmed solider, laid dead in the middle of the street while the ‘murderer’ gave an interview to a bystander; his hands were red with the soldier’s blood. “How do we find ‘Life’ in so much death?,” I asked myself. As I thought about the answer, my thoughts wondered to the Moore, Oklahoma tornado a few days ago. This tornado was unbelievably strong, they rated it a ‘F5’; the rating doesn’t go any higher. I heard reports that the winds could have reached 318MPH. Unless we’ve seen ‘318MPH’, we cannot fathom what that looks like. I’m a NASCAR fan; I’ve been to lots of races. Those cars, at top speed, are going so fast, that unless you spot them from half a track away, you can’t read anything on the car, not even the number; it’s all just a blur. Top speed for those cars is around 200MPH. So the tornado’s wind-speed was around 118MPH faster than the fastest NASCAR speeds. I went to a NHRA drag race once, in a little over (3) three-seconds the car was at the end of the drag strip. It went past me, and I was in the front row, at 303MPH. I was standing up and it felt like someone took their hand and shoved me back. The speed was amazing and scary at the same time. But the tornado didn’t last for (3) three-seconds and it wasn’t a sport. It took lives, precious lives. Not one more valuable than the other; 24 in all. This brings me back to my question, “How do we find ‘Life’ in so much death?” This question brings me to this video of a lady who lives in Moore, Oklahoma, Barbara Garcia. She is an older lady, but she’s tough, as all Oklahomans seem to be. A little while after the tornado shredded her neighborhood to pieces, a news crew finds her by what’s left of her house; it looks like a pile of rubble. Ms. Garcia knows what has happen, she doesn’t appear to be in shock and she’s very calm. In the video as far as the eye can see is disaster, almost nothing is left standing. Ms. Garcia tells the story of how she went to her safe place with her little doggie, and the tornado ripped the house to pieces and the dog out of her arms. But she hasn’t found her doggie, but she knows it’s in the rubble, because she called for her and she didn’t come. Watching the video of Ms. Garcia being so calm in a time like that makes you calm watching the video, until you hear someone say, “A dog, a dog”. Just then the camera focuses on an area of what use to be Ms. Garcia’s house and under the rubble you can see a little dog’s face. Ms. Garcia is the first to get to her dog, unable to free it alone, she asks for help. Slowly, the little dog emerges from the rubble. She is so happy, as I’m sure everyone watching is; I cried like a baby when I seen the dog was alive. The dog stands there for a few seconds while she’s petting it, then they both, with the camera crew, start to walk away. The dog, like it’s master, seems to be unfazed by the chaos around it. The (2) two of them walked away together. By the way that Ms. Garcia left her once-home, it’s obvious she wasn’t prepared to leave till she found her doggie. It’s hard to believe in all that rubble any ‘Life’ could have been found, but it was. In our life when rubble and chaos are all around us our Master, The Lord, is there ready to walk us to safety, after He digs us from under the rubble. Like Ms. Garcia with her doggie, He will never leave us nor forsake us. Thank you Ms. Garcia, for showing me The Light in Oklahoma. Godspeed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW2bLcS6UtE