bright red blob type drought

I don't want to jinx it by talking about it too loudly --but it appears we might have a chance of five inches of snow on Sunday night... oh, YES, PLEEEEEEEEASE! Today, the world is one of those frosty numbers --frost clinging to every branch --and it's beautiful. But dry. The drought map has moved us from severe drought to extreme drought --the bright red blob type drought, right on the border of the dark red blob type drought --exceptional drought....




And, no, it's not the first time I've lived with drought. Yes, I know drought comes and goes in natural cycles. But, it's bad, okay?! We've had less rain than the sandy deserts of southern California. Farmers are selling off their herds. Grasses and grains are going for gold. It's really, really bad to drive through the prairie and see the cracked desiccated bottom of ponds and streams with no hope of change. At any time in the near future...

--except for the chance of five inches of snow on Sunday night..... PLEEEEASE!

I suppose there could be spiritual and metaphysical metaphors for this drought... but that's too obvious. Besides, the drought is SO physical, it's incarnational --the suffering... creation nailed to the cross.

There we are....

At prayer this morning (John 5:30)

Jesus said, “I can do nothing on my own."

Well.
So.
There we are.
So, I will pray.

Hey God, it's margaret here. The other day someone said that Christians tell God what to do. And I have noticed that the way the language is set up, that could seem to be the truth. So, I'm not telling you what to do --but in case you haven't noticed yet, your people on the prairie --and all those four leggeds and two leggeds and no leggeds that live here --they are suffering. We need rain. And, as I move in to the prayer space of a wake/funeral tonight/tomorrow, Sunday night and Monday, another Monday, and yet another Tuesday and Wednesday --I ask you to look with pity upon those who mourn, the drought in their hearts as large as that writ on the prairie. And those Cedar Tree guys... gathering right now in the cold and in the morning to share a drink or whatever else they might have, the drought in their souls is killing them. It seems all I do is bury the dead here. Day after day, death, death, death. I am tired of saying that 'life is changed, not ended' --I want abundant life for your people here. All of them. So, it's not like I'm telling you what to do, but like Jesus said before, I can do nothing on my own.... Help me us see and know what you hope and dream. And help us live it.

Amen.