Scripture: Acts 27:18-20
We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. On the third day, recipe they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, recipe we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

Thought for the Day: There was a great line on one of those survival TV shows recently—I can’t remember which show, check Man v. Wild or something like that. They were in some crazy, inhospitable, frozen wasteland. At one point, the survivalist says, “It is truly unbelievable the number of things out here that want to kill me.”

When a natural disaster strikes, I’m always reminded of the sheer power of nature and how helpless we really are when it comes to “acts of God,” an unfortunate term that insurance companies will assuredly use when referring to the tragedy in Oklahoma. I do not see the Tornado itself as an act of God. That’s just nature, and nature is an unforgiving, relentless cycle of destruction and re-creation. No, God doesn’t make a Tornado appear in Oklahoma City. The acts of God are in our responses to this disaster; acts of God are in the responses of the people in Boston and Newtown.

God acts in tragedy by moving us to react with compassion and love for our brothers and sisters who grieve. The acts of God are the people rushing to help, the first and second and 90^th responders. A natural disaster leaves in its wake unfortunate destruction and devastating loss. But it also makes way for the seeds of compassion to sprout, for us to actually start acting like humans, rather than the animals that want to kill us.

Prayer: Your activity in the thousands of people who rush to assistance when disaster strikes, God who is all activity, reinforces my faith in your goodness, and in the goodness of humanity created in your image. Be with us and comfort us all, whether our disasters are global, local, or personal. Amen.