In need of normalcy

Why is it that when our ordinary lives are turned upside down, we hunger for the same ol’ life that once was? I just made it home from the evacuation we all experienced. I carted a motion-sick cat all the way from Arizona; I am running a huge fever; and I just desire so much for things to be as they were. But nothing remains the same. It was an odd and surreal sight to drive in from the 15 to see our lovely hills, beautiful homes, and lush green valleys destroyed in such a fierce way. I prayed dreading the news about the inevitable losses.

One of which was my friend Patricia who lost her home. It broke my heart to hear the upset in her voice. I listened to how she wanted to put this behind her and find somewhere to be. She craved normalcy.

When the fire started, my son and I tucked pictures, a few clothes, and our cat in the car and headed to a Temecula pizza place. We sat there stuck to the TV, waiting for word. One interview struck me in a deep place. A man in Malibu, soot on his face, was watering down his house. He said, “If this place goes up in smoke, I know God has a better place for me to be.” Wow! What stellar faith in light of such a huge crisis!

According to Michael Casey in his book, Fully Human, Fully Divine: “Every genuine crisis is potentially empowering because it has the capacity to lead us to a greater level of authenticity and freedom—a crisis is an earth-shattering event because it involves a radical rewriting of the script of one’s own life.”

If we have open hearts, I believe God will teach us many things in these circumstances. If we truly pay attention, we realize that material things are not the most important things in life—our family and friends are. When we die, we won’t be taking material objects with us. All we will take is our faith. No matter how lost we feel, God will touch us with his love through people who care. Ours is a temporary existence. The materials we fill our houses with are just that: temporary matter. How we treat people and our relationship with our God is what’s truly important and has eternal significance.

I learned that lesson the week before my husband passed away. He stood on the back deck of our home with a very curious look on his sweet face. “What?” I said to him. He looked me square in the eyes with his china blues and said he realized that his ‘52 Ford truck and his ‘56 MG weren’t important to him anymore. He said he realized that the most important thing in his life was his family. Relationships were all that mattered.

Michael Casey continues: “Through a major crisis we are more open to God so that we are prepared effectively to subordinate our lives to the divine will. It sounds like surrender, but in reality it is a moment of freedom previously unparalleled in our experience. Coming from the depths of our spirit, such self-abandonment is an act of love that fills us with peace and joy. It brings about a change of our life and sets up a decade or two of spiritual growth that leads to a happier, more fruitful, and more fulfilled life at every level.”

I pray a special blessing on those who lost their houses. I pray God will touch them with his love through people who care. I pray God will restore their belongings, as the man in Malibu said: with an even better place to live. May we all learn what is important in life and live those things out in every way and every day through our faith in the ONE who will walk with us through our losses and celebrations. God bless us all.