Matthew

Hurricane Matthew has taken the Presidential race off the front burner.

As thankful as I am that it isn't Trump/Clinton all day every day, the devastation Matthew is leaving behind is so painful.

800 dead in Haiti, that much abused place. The suffering of Haiti, so near to our shores, is too often overlooked. How much pain can one country absorb?

Damage in the US is not as dire, at this point, as predicted, thank goodness. But as I write this northern Florida and coastal Georgia and South Carolina are facing great danger.

I don't remember what the TV ads were for anymore, but I remember the tag line "Don't mess with Mother Nature!" That's as true today as it has always been. The power of human beings is dwarfed by forces of nature.

Events like Matthew should humble us and remind us of our place in the scheme of things on this 'fragile Earth, our island home' (Eucharistic Prayer C, BCP).

My Mamaw Jones used to remind us cousins, "don't get above your raising...." What she meant was, I believe, don't imagine you're more important than you really are.

One of the things I regret about missing our annual journey to Oak Island, North Carolina because of my knee surgery, is sitting on the deck in the darkness, listening to the endless power of the Atlantic rolling and staring at the night sky. That always humbles me and reminds me of how relatively insignificant I am in the face of the immensity of the Universe.

A lesson we would all do well to remember always.