lessons from a lightning bolt

exactly one week ago today, 
almost to the hour,
before charlottesville,
before barcelona,
before mid-august when kim jong un threatened to direct missiles at Guam,
and before trump's tweets of the past week,
the house that we are renting was struck by a lightning bolt.

13"x6"x2" deep hole in the 8" thick

poured concrete foundation wall

a TREMENDOUS flash

a HUGE boom

I said "the house was just struck by lightning"

at first we didn't see any damage

only the strong smell of ozone

downstairs the basement lights' breaker tripped (which we reset)

an electrical outlet mounted on the foundation wall was fried

and, the STRONG smell of ozone

later we discovered that our TV upstairs was fried

the doorbell didn't work

the hole in the foundation wall at the entrance to the house

and another one in the driveway next to my truck

6"x6" hole more than 1" deep

next to my truck

15' from the hole in the foundation wall

we discovered this hole after our landlord arrived and checked out the damage. We were standing next to the truck when he said "what's that noise? ... I think that it's coming from your truck."

he was correct. it sounded like a small fan--perhaps the cabin fan? everything else appeared to be OK. we started the truck; we turned it off. the only way to stop the noise was to disconnect the battery.

we weren't burned or hurt (not even a scratch)

my science and civil engineering education allows me to rationalize that the 8" thick poured concrete foundation wall was the reason that we weren't harmed.

but, my Christian education tells me that the lightning strike wasn't just a random "an act of God", but rather, a message from God.

love, don't hate
don't be afraid

obey

etc.

last Friday wasn't the first time that I've heard these messages from God. I've heard them many times before, including 50 years ago when I was just 20 years old

The Youngbloods - Get Together - 1967 - YouTube 

Love Is The Answer - England Dan & John Ford Coley - Lyrics - YouTube

sometimes it takes a lightning bolt for me to get the message.