Over the last 12 months I have had many “good ideas” of blogs to write. Then life and time runs away on you and the ideas don’t seem so relevant anymore.
The one that stood out the most for me was an analogy of HD being like an all-consuming fire- but before I had finished writing it the Port Hills fire happened, followed not long after by the Grenfell tower fire in London and it felt right to wait. More recently there was a deadly fire at a shopping mall in Russia. It really is all consuming, devastating and far-reaching in its impact. Recently I was lucky to go see Ed Sheeran in Dunedin and listening to him performing “I see fire” from The Hobbit soundtrack finally motivated me to write this post.
The Port Hills fire was way too close for comfort where we were living on the Cashmere Hills. Our car was packed with all the things I didn’t want to lose. Quite a revelation on the difference between me and my husband. Tim “saved” his wallet, tablet and passport. While I am stuffing photo albums, old diaries, paintings, and most importantly the doll my Grandma made me when I was a kid. Thankfully (for us anyway) the wind changed and the fire stopped heading our way. My fascination (obsession??) with fire ignited some serious binge watching of Chicago Fire.
When I was a child there was a scrub fire in Alexandra, a town an hour or so away. I remember lying awake in bed terrified that the fire would make it all the way to Gore overnight. Also as a kid, we would do fire drills at home so we all knew how to get out of the windows in the different rooms in our house. I remember it as a fun family night of jumping out windows we normally weren’t allowed to jump out of. But out of control fire is anything but fun. It is all consuming. It impacts all that is around it. The smoke is everywhere and gets into all the nooks and crannies. It makes it hard to breathe and it stinks. Just like HD.
The last few weeks I have been hearing a lot about Daniel and his buddies Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. If you don’t know the story, basically there’s a King who wants all his subjects to bow before a gold statue, but these three guys refuse to do it because they chose to worship God instead. As punishment the king has them thrown into a fiery furnace. Longish story short, God shows up and keeps them safe from the fire and brings them out unharmed. Not a single hair was singed, and no smell of smoke was on them.
With my HD fire analogy, I take a lot of hope out of this story. What stands out for me is that there was not even the smell of smoke on them. Even though the fire of HD can be all consuming, leaving only destruction in its wake, I have hope that I can come out unharmed without even the smell of it on me. There is no “I’ve made it through, I have made it out the other side” of HD. But I can remain unharmed by its flames. Still affected and changed, but unharmed.
I see fire, hollowing souls
I see fire, blood in the breeze
I hope that you’ll remember me
I see fire, by Ed Sheeran. The Hobbit: The desolation of Smaug
The one that stood out the most for me was an analogy of HD being like an all-consuming fire- but before I had finished writing it the Port Hills fire happened, followed not long after by the Grenfell tower fire in London and it felt right to wait. More recently there was a deadly fire at a shopping mall in Russia. It really is all consuming, devastating and far-reaching in its impact. Recently I was lucky to go see Ed Sheeran in Dunedin and listening to him performing “I see fire” from The Hobbit soundtrack finally motivated me to write this post.
The Port Hills fire was way too close for comfort where we were living on the Cashmere Hills. Our car was packed with all the things I didn’t want to lose. Quite a revelation on the difference between me and my husband. Tim “saved” his wallet, tablet and passport. While I am stuffing photo albums, old diaries, paintings, and most importantly the doll my Grandma made me when I was a kid. Thankfully (for us anyway) the wind changed and the fire stopped heading our way. My fascination (obsession??) with fire ignited some serious binge watching of Chicago Fire.
When I was a child there was a scrub fire in Alexandra, a town an hour or so away. I remember lying awake in bed terrified that the fire would make it all the way to Gore overnight. Also as a kid, we would do fire drills at home so we all knew how to get out of the windows in the different rooms in our house. I remember it as a fun family night of jumping out windows we normally weren’t allowed to jump out of. But out of control fire is anything but fun. It is all consuming. It impacts all that is around it. The smoke is everywhere and gets into all the nooks and crannies. It makes it hard to breathe and it stinks. Just like HD.
The last few weeks I have been hearing a lot about Daniel and his buddies Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. If you don’t know the story, basically there’s a King who wants all his subjects to bow before a gold statue, but these three guys refuse to do it because they chose to worship God instead. As punishment the king has them thrown into a fiery furnace. Longish story short, God shows up and keeps them safe from the fire and brings them out unharmed. Not a single hair was singed, and no smell of smoke was on them.
With my HD fire analogy, I take a lot of hope out of this story. What stands out for me is that there was not even the smell of smoke on them. Even though the fire of HD can be all consuming, leaving only destruction in its wake, I have hope that I can come out unharmed without even the smell of it on me. There is no “I’ve made it through, I have made it out the other side” of HD. But I can remain unharmed by its flames. Still affected and changed, but unharmed.
I see fire, hollowing souls
I see fire, blood in the breeze
I hope that you’ll remember me
I see fire, by Ed Sheeran. The Hobbit: The desolation of Smaug