Shade Tree Wisdom 7/10/10

The walking is pleasant these mornings, often a slight breeze, and not too humid early on. And the report is that we are now ahead of the average for rainfall.

For us that is good, but for the lower valley and northern Mexico, too much. The Rio Grande has not been this high for 45 years. It has flooded homes on both sides at Laredo. The water reached the international bridge and that was closed to traffic. And, since this bridge to the U S is the busiest for international trade that arrives by land, and in a normal day that bridge crosses 12,000 trucks carrying merchandise, one can just imagine the result.

That water comes as a result of a tropical depression which followed hurricane Alex into the same area and brought moisture, rains to raise the level of the river more than ever in the past 45 years of recorded river gauges. So it stopped all traffic till the water recedes.

Meanwhile, over in the Gulf, the news is that the gushing well will finally be capped, perhaps even as early as Monday. Meanwhile, BP has been paying compensation for fishermen whose livelihood has been decimated. The problem lies in proving their income for the year which is now mostly lost. The company asks for proof, naturally, and many fishermen have always operated on a cash only basis, so they can offer no W2 forms or income tax statements as proof. They have been ‘flying under the tax man’s radar’, as it were. And fishermen who have paid their taxes resent a suggestion floated to just give them the money. One says, “I feel like, if you play, you gotta pay”.

That reminds me of the Psalm in which David asks the Lord, “Why do you stand far off, O Lord, and hide yourself in time of trouble”, Psalm 19,l. Then he gives the reason for his question when he talks about the person for whom “God is not in his thoughts.” V.4. Who says in his heart, “God has forgotten, He will never see it” v.11.

Because God does see. Paul reminds us, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap”. Gal. 6,7.

Longfellow : "Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all." "They Grind Exceedingly Small" was used as the title of a short story by Ben Ames Williams publishing in the Saturday Evening Post.

It gives us some reason to believe that God does have a hand in the history of our doings, whether we recognize it or not, because ever and again we seem to run into a truth the Bible offers us, and we ignore at our peril.

The truth that you and I cling to is this, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” So that I can say, “He died for me”.

GPD 7/10/10