The dust was blowing thinly off the field and over the yard like a worn and dingy curtain flapping disconsolately at the window of the world. Through it the old man saw the faded landscape, gray and colorless except for the line of half-dead trees along the creek. It will be another year, he thought, before the high wide plains are green.
Sanora Babb, Whose Names are Unknown, page 125
Earlier this week, I attempted to throw the post-hole digger into the dry, hard ground. While my muscles certainly don’t have what it takes for this kind of manual labor, (yes, I’ll admit it!) I was saddened at what the ground underneath the tool looked like. Soft, sandy, dusty. Thin dirt that was difficult to scoop because it lacked moisture (and muscle…) to clump together. Naturally, in my first-world frustration I dropped the tool, knowing my strong hubby would take over, and get the job done.
Still, the dust stayed in my mind. How hard life must have been almost a hundred years ago during that original, dust-laden, man-made catastrophe known as The Dust Bowl. No electricity for the dugout homes of the financially-strapped farmers. Dirt floors meant you couldn’t escape inside or out. Thin glass windows covered with nailed-in wood shutters creating a darker space inside that still was not fully safe from the microscopic dust. The countless men, women and children who breathed in the microscopic dust particles, developing and dying from dust pneumonia.
The timing of the our current extreme drought, financial crisis and post-pandemic era reminds me of two things. Both Biblical.
- “In this world, you will have trouble!” (John 16:33)
- “Nothing is new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
The lack of rain we are currently experiencing in the Central United States region is harsh, and causing all sorts of mayhem. But, this isn’t the first go-round with this sort of natural disaster. People have dealt with this before, maybe worse, (or not) depending on how you look at it. Frankly, this won’t be the last time we are ravaged by lack of rain, too much rain, extreme heat or cold temps, etc..
But, if we just stop at that depressing point of pain, sorrow, disaster, death, we never get to see the HOPE of that first verse I posted above (John 16:33.)
I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Jesus, The Gospel of John 16:33
Regardless of the level of the drought, the intensity of the pain, the chaos of the catastrophe, we have the hope of the ONE who has overcome the world: JESUS! All we need to do is keep reading the story written in the chapters following that verse. That beautiful story of Jesus giving himself as a sacrifice for all the broken and hurting people in the world!
