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Wayne WatsonMost of you, by now, probably are aware of the horrific toll and loss of life that took place in the Texas hill country on July 4.Waters of the Guadalupe River rose almost 30 feet in less than an hour.The last update counted 132 dead and over 100 still missing.Most of the reports further designate a number of children from Camp Mystic, a Christian girls camp that had, up until that terrible dark morning (this all started in the dark around 4 AM on July 4th) had been a sort of rite of passage on the journey of faith for many families from all around Texas and beyond.My church, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church will be holding funerals for 4 of the little girls killed in the flood starting today and each day this week.I can’t imagine.My dear friend and a spiritual giant in my life wrote this today and I wanted to share it with you. ____________________a reflection from Dr. Jim JacksonThe Children Who Died in the Hill Country FloodsThe recent Texas Hill Country floods were the worst natural disaster that American has experienced in my lifetime. We have been through many tragic losses—tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and fires. Each has caused extensive loss of life and property. But none of these have killed so many innocent children. The horror of having so many children washed away is more than my mind can take in. Since July 4, I have been searching for a metaphor to express my grief. The image that keeps returning to my mind is flowers. Could it be that the lives of the young children taken from us were like outrageously beautiful flowers?When we examine a flower closely, what do we see? We see its intricate petals, its vibrant color, its graceful form, its fresh fragrance. We are also drawn in by its fragility and vulnerability. We know that the flower will soon wilt and die. A flower’s worth is not defined by its brief lifespan. In a way, its temporariness intensifies its beauty. And its fragile, fleeting nature teaches us important lessons—that living today is what is important, that life is less safe and permanent that we imagine, and that death is inevitable.We see in flowers a model for life at its best. Flowers remind us to bloom and flourish where we are planted, even if for only a brief time. They teach us that a life of beauty and meaning is achievable. They prompt us to live with abandon while we are here, rather than cowering in fear of death. This is why flowers have inspired so many great works of art. Writers like Shakespeare and T.S. Eliot—painters like Claude Monet used flowers to express deep-felt emotions. Lord, as we remember the children who died in the Hill Country flood, help us to be like the flowers they represented. Help us to live courageously, to grow and flourish, to find meaning in this transitory life, and not to fear death.
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