Unveiling the Light

It seems that the worse is over. I am surprised at how many people are still coming home after evacuating not just their homes but the Paradise area all together. They are still straggling in, picking up parked vehicles, checking out properties and sight seeing all the damage that occurred while they were gone. Some seem a bit surprised that Paradise is still here at all. I’ve received many calls from friends surprised to hear that I am still here and that the Church is still operating. They had imagined far more devastation after hearing reports on the national news.

But here we are and slowly we are returning to normal. It is slow though and it will take a bit of time for all of us to calm down. Still, it is not quite yet paradise in Paradise just yet. The smoke and ash still linger. In an area that receives nearly 100 inches of rain annually, I never thought I would miss rain storms. I do! I can’t wait for the rain. Lots of it! Deludes of it. Anything to wash away this ash, burnt leavings and the smell of destruction. I wish it would pour inches and inches for weeks on end. No such luck though. I am afraid we are in for months of hot weather and need to be on alert. The danger is far from over.

I took in an orange tabby cat refugee from the fire. He fled into an evacuated home and was locked in for five days without food and water. He is still traumatized by the experience. He spends a lot of time under the bed. He is fine in the moments when he allows me to pet him but otherwise it’s back under the bed. I think he reflects a lot of our attitudes at this time. We are just fine as long as we don’t smell smoke, hear a siren or find some other unexpected obstacle to our day. Like this cat, now named “Harley” in honor of a perhaps overreaching dream for the future, we are all a bit on edge. The suitcases are still packed … just in case. The fire is still burning out there somewhere. It’s under control but not out. We’ve relaxed before only to be surprised and nearly overwhelmed. Too many neighbors have lost everything and too many others have had too many close calls. Where is that rain? Maybe I’ll go see how Harley is under that bed.

We should however give thanks. Thanks for the firefighters who responded from all over the state, from out of state and even from out of the country to come to one of the largest fires in our history. Thanks for all the police and volunteers who ensured that all but one got out of the way of the flames, thanks to the heroes who helped neighbors save their property and all of those unselfish people who reached into their pockets to help those who suffered losses; and thanks to God for helping us to get through this as a community and helping us to preserve the beauty of Paradise. We should give thanks that it did not spread into the town proper and did not go into the worst of all areas, Magalia which would have been a true nightmare to evacuate. Paradise was hard enough.

We should also pray for the poor soul who started the first fire which now appears to be arson. May the Lord forgive him or her this great sin which caused at least one death, uprooted thousands of families, destroyed the homes of at least five families and caused millions in damage to people’s property and cost millions more as thousands of firefighters left their families and risked their lives to get the fire under control. Many of these firefighters were injured. May the culprits find a way in their life to make up for all the damage they have caused and find a way to somehow overcome this great deficit to make some kind of positive impact on the world. To do so they have a lot of work to do.

Lord, bless our community. Help us through this summer and help us to recover from these fires. Bless those who have suffered loss and guide them to full recovery. Lead those who have caused such pain to repentance and conversion and guide us to forgiveness. Help us Lord to emerge from this ashes renewed in our faith, united in our community and full of faith and love in our Lord. Thank you Lord for your presence among us and please Lord, stay with us always. We ask this Father, filled with the Spirit in the name of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Posted by Fr Steven Foppiano at 12:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last week we fought off the enemy from the east. We thought we had him stopped but he divided his forces and jumped the Skyway to out flank us both to the north and south, fighting up the canyon and up Neal Road. Our people fought valiantly though. When the enemy tried an end run around by Butte College it gained some initial successes and our losses were severe as all fronts weakened but in the end our troops fought them to a standstill. Victory was ours! But as we were to find out, this is a determined enemy and the war is far from over.

The enemy is busy elsewhere in the state and we were force to par down our troops to support those efforts yet reports of continued activity in our area were steadily coming in. Ariel bombardments continued daily and the psychological and biological warfare is wearing us down. It is hard to breath, to see and to operate in this gloomy atmosphere. The sun, if seen at all, hangs like a dull pumpkin in the dark gray sky in a surreal landscape. Ashes cover everything and it smells like a chimney. It’s dangerous to even walk outside without a mask. We’ve already been under seize for a month and no end is in sight. Sidewalks are nearly empty and those few people seen outside are well covered and protected by life saving masks.

Now the enemy is striking from a new direction. It has completely circled around us and is attacking from the south and east. We have been forced to evacuate our medical facilities and one third of the city’s populace has fled its threat. The ashes are as bad as ever and we all wait to see how our troops will hold out against this latest onslaught. We have set up our defenses along a branch of the Feather River that gives us some advantage against their uncanny ability to leap wide spaces. Meanwhile, life as we know it has virtually come to a standstill. We wait for the results of the current battle.

How did we get to this point? Why did we give up our responsibility to responsibly manage our forest to environmental extremism? Why don’t we have timber roads that would allow firemen access to the fires? Why don’t we allow some cutting that would also bring about a clearing of undergrowth and debris? Why do we let a few people who live in cities dictate how we who live in rural areas manage our forests? Why do we give priority to every species except humans? Fire is nature’s way of clearing away debris or, we could put those forests to use for human consumption as God meant them to be and manage them so humans benefit and fires are not needed.

Well managed forests allow the best trees to grow, cut away weaker trees for consumption and clear away undergrowth as part of that operation. What’s more is that instead of costing the state money, the state actually makes money off the bids for the timber or for Christmas trees. If a fire breaks out, firefighters find easy access through the roads foresters have made and little fuel due to the clearing away of debris. That is the way we used to manage forests and it worked well until the limousine foresters got involved. Now we all suffer, people, forests and animals; while they sip self righteous cocktails in high rise cities. We let it happen. Who did it hurt? Let’s hope that last line of defense holds.

Posted by Fr Steven Foppiano at 07:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Almighty Father:

It has already been a long summer. We’ve had fires, smoke, pollution, evacuations, loss, death, power outages, heat, event cancellations, great discomfort and high anxiety. Then we have had more fires. Lord, help us. We ask you to show mercy upon this Ridge Community. Families have lost their homes, people have been frightened and millions of dollars have been lost. Our community has been brought to a standstill as we wait for the next crisis, the next evacuation or the next notice of loss. Our lungs are damaged, our spirits are beat up and we are tired of living in a large BBQ pit.

We ask you Lord for relief. Send us rain without lightening, cool days without wind and a quick end to the fires that burn around us. We pray Lord that you intervene on our behalf and bring about a change in the weather. We ask that you guide the hands of the fire and emergency personnel fighting these flames and protecting our community and that you reassure the thousands who have had to evacuate. We are tired Lord and we’ve had enough. As always it is your will that we bow to, so we can only implore that you demonstrate your divine mercy. Whatever you decide Father, you know that you have our love and loyalty but oh how we yearn for the Paradise of old and to be able to relax in our homes without having a suitcase by the door.

Your Son, Jesus Christ died so that we may live in freedom but He also told us to pray unceasingly for those things we want. Let this be part of that unceasing prayer. We need relief Lord. Please send your Spirit upon those who protect us from these fires to give them strength and wisdom. Send your Spirit as well Lord upon those who have suffered relocation and loss to give them courage and hope. And please Lord, send us some relief in the weather. We ask this Lord, guided by the Spirit, in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. May you bless Paradise, Magalia, and the entire Ridge community with your compassion and Mercy!

AMEN

Posted by Fr Steven Foppiano at 01:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

In Hollywood a man can shoot a web and swing down New York avenues or leap from tall buildings without getting scratched. In Hollywood bullets can curve in mid flight to go around objects. In Hollywood young geniuses save the world and good intentions always save the day. Watch a movie today and you know that the oil companies are evil; the government is corrupt but the young maverick coming up from nowhere has the answers and will save the day. Well, take heart America because Hollywood has taken over Washington D.C. and our problems are over.

Barak Obama recently chided McCain for a policy that proclaims, “We can drill our way out of the current problem.” He also criticized him for backing nuclear power without a complete solution having been achieved for nuclear waste and for proposing a tax cut on fuel as a help to consumers as too little to matter. Did you hear the thunderous silence that followed these statements? It is the silence of the alternatives he put forth. He had absolutely none!

If we can’t drill for oil or build nuclear plants, are we to start building solar panels on every square inch of American soil? Will that be faster or more practical? Perhaps we should all put windmills on the top of our houses? Then, at least on windy days, we could turn on our lights! Is that to much to ask of the people in charge? Give us some solutions people! If we can’t drill for oil because it will take too long and we can’t build nuclear because it’s not yet perfect, so what can we do? Do we go back to horses and buggies? What about the waste they produce? Do we begin producing methane gas from huge piles of horse manure in the center of New York City?

We can’t drill up to 12 miles off our shores but somehow it’s okay for other countries to do so 13 miles out or where their territory crosses ours such as off Cuba? It’s dangerous for U.S. countries to drill for oil there but okay for China, Cuba and Mexico to do so? Oh, a platform off our shores might cause an oil spill, so instead, let’s import oil in giant super oil tankers from enemies overseas and have them sale our pristine waters, right next to the garbage barges from liberal eastern cities! They won’t spill any oil and they are much safer, right? Sure they are … yeah, right.

Actually, it’s all okay because we are going to invent a new source of energy called allfornothinggogood. McCain said so because he would create thousands of Manhattan projects creating just such a miracle by offering the winner $300,000,000. I am sure you want your neighbor playing with these chemicals in his garage hoping to be the next J. Paul Getty. Oops, there goes the southern half of Magalia. Guess that new super battery just didn’t work out. I hate to break it to these Hollywood Moguls but the Manhattan project didn’t come out of nothing and was hardly a backyard project. Apple Computer may have started in a garage but it was based on finding new applications and uses from the work of NASA, IBM, and other giants. They thought outside the box, they did not invent something totally new.

We are not living in the movies. Good intentions won’t do it. We can’t swing across town on webs or leap tall buildings in a single bound and we can’t wish our way out of $4.50 a gallon gas. But there are solutions to the energy crisis. Its hard work and realistic goals set by grounded government officials depending on the private sector! Yes, we need to find alternatives and it will take billions of dollars of research and decades of work, much of which has already begun. It may be hydrogen cells; it may be an alternative fuel. It may include tidal action and it most definitely will not be corn ethanol which is the boondoggle Congress has set on the American people in two centuries.

It will probably be the following: Oil, which will remain a large portion of our energy supply for decades and which also, provides the basis for most products we use as plastic is an oil derivative. We need to drill, period! The fact is we hold more oil than Saudi Arabia. That we refuse to access it is pure insanity and national suicide. Coal will also be a part of the solution. Nobody has more coal than we do. Liquefied coal can be burned quite cleanly. It is more expensive than the raw product but quite competitive to oil. Nuclear is an absolute must. We invented nuclear and have allowed ourselves to fall far behind. Not only can nuclear power be used to provide power with zero emissions but it can be used to provide a cheap source of fresh water to coastal states. Power plants can generate electricity by day and process fresh water by night when electrical demand is low.

Solar and wind power are part of the mix but; the, oh so non Hollywood reality is that they will never be more than a minor part. The fact is that both are inefficient and unreliable. Windless or cloudy days mean unreliable power and modern society cannot be so dependent on nature for its needs. We are a scientific and machine driven society and we should realize that we need cheap sources of energy or our modern way of living and progress as a society is a thing of the past. Those that fly in private jets and are driven in private limos don’t tell you the truth that they want you to park your car and take up your bicycle but they have no intention of doing so themselves. Their houses remain at 68 degrees while they expect you to swelter in the heat, freeze in the cold, and reduce your standard of living so they can feel good about their life style.

We have been fed the biggest con of the century. We have been convinced to not seek the energy sources available and then told that the high prices for energy are to be expected in a world of scarce resources. We are told that it takes too long to go find the energy now but are given no alternatives other than higher prices and to do with less. The fact is that the elite are happy with higher prices because it puts “the masses” in our place and puts them in control where they feel they belong. They can now dictate to us how to live our lives and we are financially vulnerable because we allowed them to put us here.

The key questions in this election should be, will the candidate drill for oil? Will the candidate build refineries? Will the candidate build nuclear plants? Will the candidate provided incentives to industry to find alternative fuels? Only if they answer these four questions yes do they deserve our vote. If they don’t follow through they should be immediately impeached. If the judicial stands in the way, they should be immediately impeached. There is probably no more important decision in our lives. The fact is that democracy is dead without economic freedom and without energy there is no economy to speak about. It is not about being green and it is not about conservation. It is about having an economy that allows democracy to work. Energy is not an option. It is mother’s milk to our society.

What does this have to do with God? This is about justice and what is happening now is very unjust to a great many people, especially the poorest among us. Also, without our economy we will lose our freedom and without our freedom we will surely lose our ability to freely worship as we wish. I want to serve God, not some government elite.

Posted by Fr Steven Foppiano at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)