Curious Christian

Reflections on culture, nature, and spirituality from a Christian perspective

Good News amid the Flames

Published by

Matt Stone

2009-02-14

In the wake of the Australian bushfires some of the good stories are finally starting to emerge. Stories of courage, stories of endurance, stories of self sacrifice, stories of families trying to resurrect their lives.

But the flames. The images linger. So surreal, so deadly. Imagine standing behind the lens of this camera, watching the flames come at you faster than you can run. The oxygen sucked out of the air.

What I find most haunting is the faces of the children who perished – so, so many – and the stories of the children who survived, survived alone. Where is the meaning in that, in lives damaged, in lives cut so short?

Tragedies like this draw me into reflection about the meaning of life, and the way towards life lived without fear of death. There is good news, but, but its amid pain.

Tags Australian

6 responses to “Good News amid the Flames”

Steve Hayes

2009-02-15

What makes it worse is that when whole communities loose a large number of their members. Mourning one person, or even several is bad enough, but when there are so many it is much harder. I think of the tsunami a few years ago where there were only one or two survivors left to mourn whole villages. It must be something like that.
Lord have mercy.

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Matt Stone

2009-02-15

Yes, entire towns are destroyed, bodies are still being recovered, the death toll is now expected to reach 300. Many more are hospitalized and homeless. It was an extreme weather event, the worst fire Australia has ever experienced. Climate control talk has been unmasked as a fallacy. Humanity can’t control nature when it rages like this.

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+dale

2009-02-15

if the world we not filled with pain, there would be no need for good news. the good news is, perhaps most importantly, that in the pain and suffering the holy one is with us, even to the end of the ages.

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Brunettekoala

2009-02-15

I don’t think it’s imaginable. The people who had seconds, minutes from realisation of what was happening to try make an escape. I can’t imagine what it would be like if I went back to the area I grew up and it just simply wasn’t there anymore. That most of the people wouldn’t be there anymore.
Here, been hearing some truly inspirational stories, and just some of the attitudes of those affected – people who have gone ‘yep, we have no material possessions anymore, but hey, we’re still alive, our mum is still alive’…Another was a guy who lost his home in the floods in Queensland getting aid, and he turned round and said – send it to the people in Victoria – they lost more than I did, and they need it more than me.
I find that so humbling as I wonder if I was in a similar position, what would my attitude be?

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Matt Stone

2009-02-15

Yes Dale, well said.

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Matt Stone

2009-02-15

Brunettekoala, yeah i heard the story about the Queensland guy. Not sure where he’s at but that was truly Christlike. Inspiring.
Yesterday I was reading the story of one survivor who whipped up a temporary sprinkler system with metal pipes and saved himself and his property that way. The stories of others who tried to escape with thir children as soon as they heard but were cut off. Couples who were separated then reunited. Firefighters who saved campers by driving their fire truck and anoher car into a stream with he kids in a car. Others who stayed underwater for the duration, popping their heads up to quickly gap what oxygen they could. Their tenacity and ingenuity and fortitude was increadible.

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