Lifestorms

This weekend my area was threatened with Hurricane Earl. By the end of the Friday Earl was predicted to graze only, and by Saturday night it was clear that Earl had not even touched us. All the gloom and doom and frantic sales of batteries and generators, the tying down of porch furniture, filling gas tanks. Today the news commentaries are all about wasted effort. I disagree.

I think of Earl like many life storms for which you prepare but hope never to endure. Getting ready helps you think about what is truly important. Weather and life storms may not turn out as bad as predicted or feared, but you dodge the bullet you are discover a new appreciation for the things that matter.

Five years ago people thought they had dodged a bullet when Hurricane Katrina hit and they got through it. Then the levees failed and the lifestorm that resulted was far worse than any weather storm alone. Life sometimes tricks us into thinking we are safe only to discover danger from another side. Sometimes we ignore the warning signs, the predictions, too confident in our own abilities only to be humbled or lost when we are wrong.

I am glad Earl missed us. I am glad to be reminded of how fragile we are in the face of a major storm, from the skies or from life. I hope I remember. I hope I prepare. I hope I continue to be blessed by storms which fail to hit.