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Burning Bush Cove, Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and Where Is God?

Post hurricane tales and tragedy details, Then Came Bronson, Wayfaring Stranger, and thoughts about the meaning of life.

L. A. "Tony" Kovach, Neighbor

Posted Sun, Oct 13, 2024 at 9:27 am ET|Updated Mon, Oct 14, 2024 at 10:11 am ET

Base image credits: Copilot. Image and text collage by L. A. "Tony" Kovach for the Patch. Note: Moses removed his sandals at the site of the Burning Bush because God told him he was standing on holy ground.

It is useful to remember that life is an adventure. As with any adventure story, there can be drama, joy, tragedy, and triumph. We do not know minute-by-minute with absolute certainty what will happen next. We may think we have a pretty good idea of what's about to happen, but then something unexpected occurs. For instance, you may recall the incident about an airplane that crashed into a row of townhouses. Did those residents know 1 minute before that a plane was about to hit them? No.

Unlike tornadoes that may give very little notice, millions knew Hurricanes Helene and Milton were coming. Preparations were made, or not, depending on the person, household, business, agency, nonprofit, and media. Some things were surprising. Others were more or less expected. And where was God before, during, and after those monster storms?

Find out what's happening in Lakelandfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Like some 44 percent of Polk County, our power went out. A couple of days ago post-hurricane my wife and I went to search for gas and we made a route through Auburndale and into Lakeland. Storm damage, flood waters, and power outages were evident. Gas being offered for sale wasn't.

Yesterday, a good friend and neighbor told me his relative advised them that the Racetrack in Auburndale had been refueled. He suggested if I waited until late at night, I may not have to worry about lines at the pumps. So at about 1:40 AM ET on 10.12.2024, I made my way to that Racetrack.

As I was driving north at night headed for that convenience store-fuel stop, I approached the bright lights of a sheriff’s deputy’s vehicle stopped by the southbound lane. To the left of that patrol car in the ditch appeared a pickup truck with the nose down and tail end pointing skyward. Whoever the driver was, did he or she know a minute before that their vehicle would be in an accident? What caused it? Was it predictable or did something - perhaps a deer or other creature - cause the driver to swerve?

There was no traffic at that moment, but I slowed, said a prayer, and drove around the scene of that accident and continued to the station. For whatever reason, when I got there, Racetrack wasn't selling gas. The pump handles were covered and one woman next to her vehicle stood forlornly looking at the pumps and then at me. When asked, she confirmed that gas was not for sale at that time. As I was getting ready to pull out of that Racetrack, an Auburndale police patrol unit was pulling in and stopped near the convenience store. He was parallel to the drive and highway, so I pulled up along side and lowered my passenger side window. “Do you know where I can get fuel?” I asked. “Love’s up on I-4,” the officer replied. I thanked him, let Apple maps confirm my route, and left.

As I was driving north on Berkeley Road, I passed the signal at Burning Bush Cove. That sparked a memory of the lyrics of a song from years ago.

The lyrics I learned was different than this one posted below. According to Musixmatch:

Wayfaring Stranger Song by Johnny Cash

I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger

Traveling through this world below

There is no sickness, no toil, no danger

In that bright land to which I go

I'm going there to see my father

And all my loved ones who've gone on

I'm just going over Jordan

I'm just going over home

I know dark clouds will gather 'round me

I know my way is hard and steep

But beauteous fields arise before me

Where God's redeemed, their vigils keep

I'm going there to see my mother

She said she'd meet me when I come

So I'm just going over Jordan

I'm just going over home

I'm just going over Jordan

I'm just going over home

The version of Wayfaring Stranger I knew was performed by Michael Parks and Bonnie Bedelia in the show Then Came Bronson. I personally like the lyrics that follow, but each is interesting. I’ve put bold type to emphasize the distinction between the one above and the following.

I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger

Traveling through this world below

There is no sickness, no toil, no danger

In that good land to which I go

I'm going there to meet my Savior

I’m going there no more to roam

I'm just going over Jordan

I'm only going over home…

We are sojourners.

Wherever we live, we are just passing through space and time. Life is an adventure. There are moments of drama, joy, travail, celebrations, and times of dreary toil. Or in the aftermath of hurricanes, people waiting for whatever comes next and hoping that help comes sooner than later.

That sign at Burning Bush Cove also reminded me of the Biblical book of Genesis. Recall that Moses didn’t want to be “called” to the task God had given him. Moses fled and only later when confronted with the bush that burned but wasn't consumed by the flames did he finally relent to God's call.

Moses wasn’t alone in Scripture in his desire to buck God’s will.

I remember an album by Bill Cosby where Noah was telling God he wasn't so sure that building an ark - a great big boat - was a good idea. God’s imaginary reply, per Cosby’s comedy schtick? “Noah, how long can you tread water?”

Lives have been lost. People are injured in body or mind. Untold billions in damages have been suffered. Some may have thought they were going to be safe from the ravages of a hurricane for whatever reason. Some may have thought that due to their circumstances they had no choice but to ride a storm out.

There is tremendous compassion in our society, illustrated on the right side of the featured image above. Platoons of rescue workers volunteered. Others working for government agencies get paid. But in either case, those helping hands don’t ask for ethnicity, identity groups, religious or political affiliation (if any) as they go about the often hazardous and at times thankless toil of saving or assisting a fellow human.

When I arrived at the Love’s station at I-4, it was about 2 AM. The pumps were busy. But there were a few open, so I pulled right up. Gas prices are magically down from just a few weeks ago. An election is coming. There is speculation that some with influence and power worked the levers behind the curtains to get gas prices lower as part of an effort to help the party in power get Kamala Harris (D) and her running mate Governor Tim Walz (MN-D) elected. Or maybe it’s just a coincidence. Which do you think it is?

Left-leaning Wikipedia says: “Then Came Bronson is an American adventure/drama television series starring Michael Parks that aired on NBC…Then Came Bronson began with a television film pilot that aired on NBC on March 24, 1969…

The series features Parks as the protagonist, James "Jim" Bronson, a newspaperman who becomes disillusioned after the suicide of his best friend Nick (Martin Sheen), and with "working for The Man" after a heated argument with his editor.

In order to renew his soul, Bronson becomes a vagabond searching for the meaning of life and seeking experiences that life has to offer (as revealed in the series pilot). During his travels, he shares his values with the people he meets along the way and to whom he lends a helping hand when possible. Bronson rides a Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle and, as such, he was viewed by some as a modern version of the solitary cowboy wandering the American west. The motorcycle had previously been sold to Nick by Bronson.”

“…Though the opening promises a journey of self-discovery, the premise of each episode is that Bronson enters someone else's life at a crucial point and acts as a catalyst for change.”

Change is not something that comes easily for many of us mortals. Sometimes things have to get bad, we have to 'hit bottom' in order for change to occur.

Sometimes authentic change takes life’s storms, either natural storms like Helene or Milton, or the more localized dramas encountered in daily life.

People wonder why God allows this or that to happen. God gave humanity free will. The Creator didn't make us mindless robots that follow a program. Freedom has consequences. Ironically, misused freedom can lead to various forms of enslavement.

Scripture says God’s ways are not humanity’s ways. ICYMI, or need a refresher, when God made Adam and Eve, Genesis says that the Creator placed them in a Garden called Eden. The first couple didn’t have to work in the sense we do today. The first couple could pick fresh fruits from any tree in the Garden, with only one exception. God warned Adam and Eve not to eat that forbidden fruit, less they die. Did they listen? No. Like Moses, or Jonah, or Noah, there was disobedience or resistance. One would think that after so many blessings, that humans would want to listen to God's advice.

God’s purpose for humans has always been to bring us to our true home in heaven. The world is a testing ground. Will we live according to God’s ways or to our own whims? Don't people veer off course into behavior that is often harmful to themselves and others?

The Bible is an amazing morality tale, start to finish. That’s not to imply that it isn’t true. But that is to say, as the famous playwright William Shakespeare observed: “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” That line is from Shakespeare's play: “As You Like It.” (Act 2, Scene 7). Shakespeare was a believer. Per some experts, he made each of his stories instructive morality tales that were often inspired by Scripture as well as by historical events.

Part of what makes the Scriptures so powerful is that the various stories and accounts are true to life in terms of human behavior.

After initial resistence, the Burning Bush event inspired Moses to later lead the Israelites out of Egypt, that place of slavery. Wonders and miracles were performed by God as demonstrations of the Creator’s Divine Power.

Interestingly, Pharaoh and the Israelites alike quickly questioned the miraculous deeds. After passing through the Red Sea, the Israelites began to wonder. Can God feed us in the desert? Can the Almighty give water to drink in the desert for so many souls?

Where was God before, during, and since Hurricanes Helene and Milton? The same place He has always been. He’s everywhere all at once. The Creator is in all places and times. Only God sees all, knows all, loves us all even though the Creator knew we would individually and collectively fail repeatedly.

God has a plan for our lives. We can question his plan, as Moses, Noah, Jonah, the Isrealites in the desert, or others in the Bible did. But thankfully, like Jonah, we may in time realize that it is wise to do God's will over our own.

Evidence of the miraculous is all around us. It is as close as the mirror which gives us a reflection of what we are. The odds of humanity being the product of evolution are so astronomical as to be nearly impossible. More faith is needed to believe that completely random events created the universe and then evolution eventually led to us and our time than is need to believe in God and Divine Revelation. Perhaps that is why belief in God is so common globally throughout human history.

Recently, scientists studying the Shroud of Turin determined it was indeed a burial cloth of a crucified man from ancient Israel. Carbon dating tests decades before that supposedly debunked the Shroud were mistakenly performed on a piece of cloth that was not part of the original. Oops.

How many times do scientists, and medical professionals have to say eggs are good or bad? Or that the food pyramid millions were raised on for decades later had to be modified because they may have contributed to obesity before we realize that processed foods with too much sugar and other additives are far more likely culprits for ill-health than what God gave humans since the beginning of history?

God’s ways are not man’s ways (Isaiah 55:8).

God’s priorities aren’t focused as much on our becoming rich or poor, overweight or skinny. God’s priorities are that we treat each other as brothers and sisters regardless of the level of melatonin in our skin. God’s priorities are that before the end of each life's sojourn in this world that the soul will turn to the Creator for redemption. Instead of toil and woe, ups and does, there is a heavenly endless joy and no pain of any kind.

Besides God and humans there are angels and devils. More on that another time.

If we are in tune with what God wants us to learn, do, and become, we can have a reasonably happy life in this world of woe. There will be good times and bad. Times of joy and triumph as well as man-made tragedies and natural disasters. More on all of these topics are planned in this series of articles in the days ahead.

Some may recall the song, What's it all about Alfie? It is common to wonder what is the meaning and purpose of our lives. What is it that God has in mind for you or me?

We face an election just weeks away, with early voting already started in many states. God’s ways are clear to those who seek the Divine Will instead of their own fickle desires. To learn more about evidence on a range of issues, from evidence provided by cited from mostly secular sources, see the related articles linked below. We don't all get a burning bush. But we may get exposed to events that are every bit as life-changing as the events encountered by great figures from centuries past. ##

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