New life brings new hope.

As I walked out on my front porch this morning, coffee in hand, I observed the effects of some harsh rain and wind that went through the area yesterday and last night. A tornado touched down about 8 miles east of my house. I was on the phone as the storm passed over my house where multiple lightning strikes made it hard to speak on the phone. I learned today that a tornado continued east into Arkansas near my son’s house. Somewhere along the line of the path of the tornado people lost their lives and their homes. No matter how much you prepare for something like this, it seems almost unreal when it happens. My wife and I had signed up for an app that would alert us when bad weather was about to hit us. This time the alert came well after the storm had past. No matter how prepared your try to be your life and those around you can be taken in just a few minutes. Usually after an event of destruction we look around and ask,” why”. But it doesn’t take long for me to remember that there is no real reason. Natural disasters happened without answering the question why. Certainly when natural disasters happen you cannot put the blame for the disaster on anyone person or group.

It does not matter who you are or where you live. Natural disasters bring us all back to being just human beings. Once a tornado takes a life or destroys all belongings, it does so without any regard to your race, religion or political affiliation. The report from the scene of a disaster does not read how many Republicans or Democrats were killed or displaced. It does not read how many Christians, Buddhists, Hindus or Jews were killed. When it comes to natural disasters there is no discrimination. We grieve for the loss of human lives. No matter what country the disaster happens in there are true feelings for those that are lost. Sometimes I think it takes a natural disaster to bring out the best in mankind.

Being retired and living a long time has exposed me to the many different conditions of mankind and given me more of a tolerance for all the different cultures. It also has me accepting the fact that we all die. Sometimes I even focus too much on the aspect of dying. And it is always great when something happens that makes me think more of life. It is nice to find something that brings sunshine rather than clouds into my mind.

That happens each time a child is born. I have been blessed with many children and many more grandchildren. Such an event brings along with it happiness and hope. The birth of the child, both inside and outside my family, always brings joy to my life. In the last few days I have found hope and joy again in another birth.

It was not the birth of a child, but the birth of a chicken. If you would’ve told me that this would bring me joy before moving out to the country, I would’ve laughed at you. In the past two days two chicks were hatched on my tree farm. My wife and I have several bantam chickens, one rooster and six hens. Several weeks ago two of the hens seemed never to leave the roost. We checked on them and found out that they were setting on several eggs. We have no prior experience with chickens. After about 21 days as we checked on the hen we noticed a small movement in the corner of the roost. To our amazement and surprise it was a brand-new chick. Bantam chicks are just a little bit bigger than your thumb. My wife and I both seem to light up with joy at this new birth. I know it may sound a little silly, it wasn’t the birth of another child to one of our children, but it brought us joy. Something so simple and yet so amazing.

Even though I know that every day people die from all kinds of reasons. And I still I mourn the death of those members of my family. But the birth of this chick, the next day there was another chick born, made me feel hopeful again. Whether I lean left or right in my politics or I am considered healthy or disabled, new life always brings me new hope. No matter what your religion is or you race, new life brings new hope.

My thought for the day is that if you’re feeling low and somewhat overwhelmed by the events around you, look for new life. Look around you to find the new life, even if it is not a human being. It could be a pet or something simple as a chicken. If you look around for new life I believe you will find new hope. In my thoughts finding new hope is essential to life.

Pops

I hope this did not sound too heavy, but the tornado caused my thoughts to go this way today.