Smoke makes things clearer

It's 3am and I am wide awake. My family is sleeping soundly but the state is in turmoil.

I walk outside and my back yard is flooded with instant light; a lightening bolt flashes following distant thunder. The strong and frightening smell of smoke fills my nostrils. I stand up on the trampoline in my yard and scan the surrounding region for the usual view of lights and hills but the smoke haze is too thick, I cant see much at all. I can hear a distant siren. I pray.

News radio streaming on the web tells me there are lives lost and that there are many fires. There is a constant update of what towns need to remain on alert and reminders that people are not to travel as there are so many roads closed. People call in and report what they have been doing, what they are going through and what they are feeling. It is a part of the coping strategy.

One text message is read out on the radio: "we live in the path of one of those fires but we are away on holidays. We may have lost our home, our town may have been devastated. But our two daughters are here, in their beds, safe and sound. We fear for our neighbours and our friends. We can rebuild our homes but we can not replace the lives lost."

There are at least 10 major fires burning. Again I pray. I hear that the town of Kinglake has been devastated and lives have been lost. we had our wedding reception there years ago and I feel a sense of connection. I know people who live there and worry for them. People ring in to see if there is anything they can do, they feel hopeless and want to do something. There is not much many of us can do. Another person tells that he has opened the cricket club rooms so fire fighters can have a shower and sleep in shifts. He tells us that the local butcher has arrived with food ready to feed the hungry. Locals arrive with blankets and drinks, ready to comfort.

I go outside again and the smoke haze is still lingering, not bad enough to sting my eyes but they are teary with emotion. Despite the smoke I can see things so much more clearly, not my neighbourhood but my belief in our need to cling to each other as a community. The things that really matter are the people; our loved ones, our friends, the people we don't even know. It is in times like this that we are together as a community, we care for people that we have never met, we cry for the lives of strangers, our hearts break for those in distress. We need to talk about it, we need to listen to people tell of their situation.

There is a line in a song of worship to God, "Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours." Tonight God's heart is breaking for people in distress, so does mine.

One of my boys wakes, he is thirsty and wants a drink. I have never been so willing to get up to him. I give him a drink and reassure him. I draw him close and I tell him "you are all right, go back to sleep."

He can, but many cant. My heart and my prayers are with them. For the rest of us: draw your loved ones near you, tell them you love them. Reconnect with those that you are dislocated from; forgive and forget. Reach out to people in your community; do life together in love at all times not just when there is trouble.