What Might Nature Be Telling Us?

At 4:00 in the morning I am up listening to this crazy wild wind...thinking. I was inspired by a sunset I regret missing. Tuesday night, an hour before Obama's State of the Union speech, there was one of the most stand-out gorgeous sunsets ever. I was told that people were pulling over and stepping out of their cars to take photographs and bond over the shared beauty.

That night I was sitting in Mogan's. It was crowded and impossible to step outside to see the sunset, because I was crammed in. I only saw the aftermath at twilight but could see even from the deep rich purples what a spectacular sunset it had to be. I felt in my heart that this sunset did more for Southern California than any old speech, because beauty transcends politics and brings out the best in people. It wakes us up to--as Lincoln put it, "the better angels of our nature."

As I listen to this wind, I also think about what also wakes people up--devastation. I wonder what destruction this wind is causing as I write this. Is power going out all over the city? Are limbs falling and wreaking havoc? Are cars swerving off the road? Are there wildfires going? What will tomorrow morning look like?

I feel like nature is screaming at us to bond using both beauty and devastation, begging us to step away from our politics and cell phones and be in our world--and take care of our community and each other. Power may go out, and so will our T.V.s We may sit in candlelight with our loved ones and talk. We may be forced to talk to neighbors we've only seen in passing for a decade or more and ask for help or bond with them about how we are coping. Yes--devastation also can bring out the ugliness in people, but not all people and not always. Sometimes it makes us courageous heroes, like in the aftermath of 9/11 when there was the organic movement of our country and the world to help.

We can be heroes. We can be brave. We can listen to what I believe is nature's call. We can deal with whatever awaits us tomorrow morning.