Extremes of Life





 

When I was a boy, we lived in an area that frequently saw tornado activity. I was fascinated by the fact that a tornado could touch down and cause such destruction, yet randomly leave a particular building unscathed in the midst of all the wreckage. The contrast was striking. How could such extremes exist in such close proximity to one another? It didn’t seem possible.
As I walked past this house on the corner, these two bushes caught my eye. Standing next to one another, the image seems to sum up these past 20 months or so in the stark demarcation of survival and death. Like so many people fighting Covid 19 , some fall mildly ill and others die. Organizations and businesses labor under the same difficult challenges, some survive and the others collapse under the strain. The hard freeze of the “Snowvid” event in February spared some plants and killed others. Yes, in these days the sharp contrast between survival and defeat seems more vivid than ever before. Or maybe we are just more aware.
This has always been the reality of life. Each day holds every emotion and experience from one extreme to the other for those around us. Sometimes the extremes are present in single life in a single day. All is well, and a phone call or message changes everything. One minute life is stable and calm, the next it is rocked to the foundation. Extremes.
The story of Elijah captures life as it swings between the extremes. One day the prophet is riding high after winning a showdown with the prophets of another god, the next he is hiding in a cave and longing to die. But God was present in both extremes and at every place in between. God acted. God spoke. God was present. The same is true today for us. No matter what life brings, God is present and we are not alone. Our friendship and presence embodies for others this truth when we care for one another. Life is full of extremes. But life is also full of God. Let us help each other through the extremes of life with love and compassion.
Peace.

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