Who's to blame?

@willripleyCNN reported this morning and I was shocked. He said the millions of animals and the 27 humans died "directly linked to climate change."  Later during his coverage, he cited in the context of the fires which are ravaging our country, people who want a change from fossil fuel. He said, “they say that is the only way to stop this climate crisis from getting worse.” To be fair the undertag said that this was a quote from the protesters, but what’s missing is any response by firemen or government officials. I understand that the crowd was large and people’s placards and anger were both visible, but a reporter has to collect more than headlines.

This caught my eye this morning after I was awakened at 5:20 with the smell of smoke. The bush fires were near or the wind had blown in our home’s direction. I checked the app on my phone, “Fires near me” and sure enough the diamond of a grass fire was ‘out of control’ 400 metres from me. Yikes! I rushed to dress and hopped in my car. I drove over and within minutes the firemen had already put out the flames and were setting up a barrier to prevent anyone from walking into the bush at the Stringybark Creek reserve. 

I thought of the way Ripley had reported the Sydney protest from yesterday. I wondered if any of the protesters would be in my neighbourhood and what they would say. Would they blame Prime Minister Scott Morrison for this one, too? Would they blame coal production or the climate change which we must have caused by our use of any fossil fuels? 

In conversation with the couple across the street from the fire on Elizabeth Parade, they told me their daughter had also awakened to the smell of smoke. They, for whatever reason, checked their house CCTV footage which points onto the street and also the bush and saw an unusual car driving by at 3 a.m. The fire began raging after 4; they rang the emergency 000 and within minutes the firies were on site and had put out the fires. High marks for the firemen and also to the couple with the camera. Police will come by later this morning, to be sure to see if they can sort out the cause of the fire.

And that’s one of those things we all want to sort out. Will Ripley and CNN want to find out. Everyone wants to know the cause, so SOMEONE can fix it. 

“Climate change has not caused the current fire crisis,” says Australian Capital Territory forester and former acting fire control officer Ian McArthur.

“Long unburnt fuels in national parks are the primary cause. Basic fire management states that a fire needs oxygen, a heat source and fuel. The only one of those that can be manipulated is fuel. The more fuel, the more intense the fire, the harder it becomes to suppress the fire.”

That’s one for the celebrities and the wrongly-informed. That’s one for you to know. Who’s to blame? Maybe it’s the ones who stopped the firemen from doing their jobs. Maybe some things just happen. Maybe we don’t even need to blame anyone. And certainly not to demonize anyone who is giving themselves to serve us like our PM or premier. 

Fire and rain...Turbulence in Sweet '16

No one in Australia would have been unaware of the millions of dollars being spent in the New Years Eve fireworks shows in Sydney and Melbourne and to little villages and small country towns all over the country. The Brisbane River attracted 100,000 visitors and Perth, Adelaide, Wodonga and everywhere brought in the new year with joy and merriment.

Down in Mosquito Hill, Currency Creek, South Australia, yesterday 15 homes were directly threatened, and 310 hectares were scorched. Thanks to 200 firefighters, no deaths were reported and the fire is "contained" which is great news. Not so the people of Wye River where many are still homeless from last week's major fires along the Great Ocean Road. Kennett River (Victoria) home owners were evacuated yesterday, but thankfully no one saw their home destroyed.

In Dubai, a skyscraper is ablaze. The fire erupted ahead of a major New Year's Eve fireworks display, due to be held at the Burj Khalifa. Crowds gathering to watch the display have been asked to leave. Fire appeared to have engulfed much of the building, which has more than 60 stories and is a luxury five-star hotel and apartment complex.

Up in the US in the state of my origin, Missouri, major flooding and rain is threatening all around St Louis and environs of the Mississippi River and other rivers, cresting above levees. Intense flooding has killed at least 20 people and forced hundreds of roads to close across Missouri and neighbour Illinois. Rain-swollen rivers will set records in the Mississippi River basin through much of January. Flooding on the middle and lower portion of the Mississippi River and some of its tributaries may reach levels not seen during the winter months since information began being recorded in the middle of the 19th Century.

Residents in Secret Harbour are being warned again of bush fires today with memories of last November when fires caused havoc in the Perth suburb.

I'm in Howlong as the year begins, on the Mighty Murray River, and there is no flooding here, and no fires. And only small crowds at the Bowling Club last night to watch a tribute group of the Little River Band (http://www.littleriverband.com). LRB was formed in the mid-70s in Melbourne, so it was fitting to hear them play last night, although I have to admit, I heard them through my window as I was weary from a day of golf, heat and reading.

The question for many from Bondi Beach to Brooklyn, from Paris to Perth will be... is 2016 going to be Sweet '16 or painfully reminiscent of the troubles of 2015? James Taylor wrote and performed the song "Fire and Rain" and I thought of this often the last couple weeks. He had seen 'sunny days that I thought would never end" and then there were the troubled times without his Suzanne. I guess the lyrics that hit me the most during those days, and even 4 decades later in my days are here:
"Won't you look down upon me, Jesus, You've got to help me make a stand.
You've just got to see me through another day.
My body's aching and my time is at hand and I won't make it any other way."

I won't make it any other way than with Jesus. He has to be my rock and stability in the midst of flooding waters. He has to be my cool and calm in the midst of storms and fires. He has to be the reason for my celebrating New Years or New Days. He is the reality and the joy of my being. Being born again by Him 44 years ago didn't just give me an entry ticket to heaven; it brought heaven to me in my days. And is available to you as well.

Taylor's prayer can be your prayer. Even today. Even now? Happy 2016.

Explosives and Australia

New Years Eve is just a day away and all eyes will be on Sydney's Harbour Bridge and fireworks extravaganza. Each year the projections climb about the numbers of people who will be watching either or both of the 9 pm or the midnight shows. Another million will be at the foreshore and millions around the country and around the world will see the scenes of fireworks up and down the Parramatta River. It will be a jubilant and festive time.

Today though is Wednesday 30 December and many in Melbourne awoke to news of a tragic explosion near Altona on the Princess Freeway. The news of this explosion is not festive or jubilant at all. Two teenage boys are dead and questions are still flooding in about the causes of the accident. We are up to 256 dead nationally in this holiday period. Hardly a holiday.

That's not all the bad news from Melbourne. In Footscray yesterday a gas tank exploded being carried in the back of a truck and killed the driver which then sent his truck into a number of nearby cars on a suburban street. One witness described the sound like 'a bomb.' The force of the blast took down two live power lines. Police continue the investigation today.

Some explosives are welcome and others are less-so.

When the Jewish people were at Mt Sinai in the days of the prophet and Our Teacher Moses, the scene was one of great fire and quaking earth. We read the following in the book of Deuteronomy
“These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. and when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. You said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives. Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer, then we will die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?" (Deuteronomy 5.22-26)

Just like explosions in Australia, the fire of the Word of God and the presence of God is welcome to some and fearful and traumatising to others. What is our response to God's presence with us? What is your response to God coming toward you? His arms are open; His love is toward you.

The book of Hebrews copies and pastes from the same biblical scene above with "our God is a consuming fire." (12.29)He comes to reclaim what is His, sometimes with fire. Will you welcome Him into your life?


Original photo by Bob Mendelsohn on Flickr here