As the fire rages in South Lake County, we find ourselves once again praying for friends, neighbors and firefighters, checking our own “defensible space” and wondering if people, animals and precious places are okay.
Today, my partner Loretta and I decided to run errands together to take our minds off the news.  At Safeway there were long lines, but everyone was walking about slowly, as if in a daze.  I was told by the clerk that throughout the day, many evacuees were there because they got out of their home with nothing… and this gave them something to do.
No one was in a hurry.  We just all meandered slowly about, leaning on our shopping carts.


I found myself loving everyone there.  Every single person.  

Each held a story… all were strangely calm and subdued.   Maybe in shock.  But a resigned, peaceful shock.  

Whatever the stories, whatever the struggles now, we are all on this round planet, our “blue boat home,” hurling through space together and we do not always know what will happen next, nor is it possible to control any of it.  The new normal comes at us faster.  And we adapt and try mightily to make sense of it, even though we know that it really doesn’t make any sense at all.  Is it possible that we could be getting used to these tragic events?  There are so many of them.

We know the drill, there will be plenty of anger and blame flying around (and lots already spilling out into the airwaves) and even with that I need to say I haven’t encountered anyone who isn’t doing their very best.  ITo you who serve others in the face of insurmountable odds, to all who are the helpers, especially those who take the brunt of the public’s frustration and those who make tough choices in the midst of crisis, or put your lives on the line, I offer a deep “Thank You.” 

“When I was young and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”  –Fred (“Mr.”) Rogers