As I surveyed storm damage through the Star Herald camera lens Monday, I couldn’t help but notice how Mother Nature took out her wrath on two neighboring farms but skipped the one across the road.
When the National Weather Service jarred us from our sleep at 2:15 a.m., we sheltered in the basement like everyone else. We emerged to find our home and property still intact. Others didn’t.
It raised a question that often pops into my mind in times of crises. “Why me?” Why was my home spared when others in my neighborhood are dealing with disaster?
Or, depending how you ask the question, “Why not me?” Why didn’t I have pestilence when others around me are struggling?
Of course, many people — in fact most of us — weathered the storm unharmed, but why some got hit while others in the same storm path didn’t is bewildering to me.
The question applies to all sorts of circumstances.
How do 99 vehicles safely travel through an intersection but the 100th motorist gets T-boned by someone who blows a stop sign?
I lost another friend to cancer last week. There have been so many that I now wonder when it will be my turn. And why do some get to be cancer survivors while others “lose their battle” with cancer?
On Memorial Day our thoughts turn to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. Why did some return home from battle while others didn’t?
They’re often fair questions, but we all know there are no answers.
No earthly ones, that is.
A more productive approach might be to consider blessings amid heartache. The best way to honor the fallen soldier is to never forget that freedom isn’t free.
To live gratefully.
I admired our storm victims Monday who were quick to point out, “We’re just grateful no one was hurt.”
And I’m grateful my home was unscathed Monday … and that my own health has been untouched by cancer … and that I haven’t been in a car crash …
I’ve certainly seen heartache and loss, but I’ve also been blessed beyond measure.
We can’t control most things that happen to us, but we can control how we respond to them (to paraphrase Charles Swindoll).
Instead of wondering “Why me?” or “Why not me?” let’s find our silver linings and choose to live gratefully.