The Big Wind in Missouri--Tragedy at the Hands of Mother Nature

Already, the vocal fundamentalists are labeling the devastating twister in Joplin, Missouri,* a part of God's wrath. Why? Bad Americans. Very bad Americans. After all, they didn't get their Rapture on May 21, 2011, so now they continue their bashing of the world by insisting that an angry God sits in His heaven, hurtling lightning bolts of every flavor at the world in order to get its attention.

Nonsense.

The world operates according to natural laws and principles. These storms, as well as the storms that happened last month in places like Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia, are simply part of the pattern that recurs every few decades. These are not the largest or most damaging storms to hit the U.S. In fact, this one in Joplin, as big and as destructive as it was, has eight others in our history that were even worse. Same goes for the recent flooding on the Mississippi River.

Every year, someone yells Apocalypse when the rains, the twisters, the floods, the hurricanes, the volcanic eruptions, the tsunamis, and the earthquakes happen. Let's not forget the California and Colorado fires. But the fact remains. These will occur forever--as long as the earth is in existence and remains in its somewhat elliptical orbit. The various continental plates will continue to drift; the ice caps will continue to melt; the seas will rise and lowlands will be flooded. Millions will die during all of these calamities. This is not, however, the injunctions of a stern, obedience-demanding deity.

We may be playing a role in it, though. Greenhouse gases, huge continent-size garbage dumps in the Pacific Ocean, denuding of forest and grass lands, dramatic increases in the use of fossil fuels in the developing nations of the world, the continual dumping of chemicals and waste products into the sources of drinking water worldwide. And on it goes.

Can we do anything about it? Many have put forth possible solutions. But there is one that, if we are to do anything about the havoc we are reeking upon this old planet, we must address first and foremost. And that is...

Our own individual selfishness, our need to be constantly comfortable, and our uncanny ability to make a gazillion excuses as to why it's not us--it's the other guy. Stop China. Stop India. Stop Malaysia. Stop Dubai. But don't take away my SUV or 50 inch TV or iPad or iPhone. I can already hear the outcries. "We NEED those things." Do you? OK. You do.

And the planet suffers while you dance.

* While I write this, hundreds, even thousands of people in the Joplin area are stunned by this most recent tragedy. My heart and the hearts of my family go out to the families in Missouri and elsewhere who are suffering at this moment on May 23, 2011. May the love of the Creator of All That Is sustain and comfort you.