the bushfire plague: are you safe (saved)?
…

Driving out of Ballarat
The smoke billows to the sky
…
Where is the fire?
Is it safe to drive?
…
The road weaves round and the
g o l d e n   p l a i n s
turn to
black remains
…
The ground a dark mass
The black pillars boasting life
Now host a bronze crust
Chips on a burnt BBQ stick
…
The sight is breathtaking in beauty
Against the piercing blue skies
…
The sun glares on the road
…
The fairytale scene
f a d e s
from the mystery of a dark valley
to the mortifying reality
of
debris
d e a t h
…
A dam is in Zion
The pools of hope
The water of life
….
This disappears from sight when
c o n f r o n t e d
by
the echo 
a family dwelling
a farm faced with the force of the fire
…
The blame is useless
The blaze has long blown
…
Now there is only a man
…
A man moving in the rubble
Surrounded by the steel
The stubborn structures few
The vulnerability evident
The fragility of an earthly dwelling
The flattened folds of a life on a floor of soot
…
The spark of unpredictability swept this way
…
The next family
The next farm
Faced this same flame
…
The fires of change
The blaze of the temporary
An explosion of hope
…
For what in this world can help the lost and lonely cope? 
…
These fires are not a first
They’re not a last
…
These fires are a reminder of the insecure reality we see
e v e r y d a y
…
These fires are a warning to fight or flee
not physically
but spiritually
…
No investment will endure
but one
No hope will last
but one
…
The burns will heal
…
Blackened beams bear the beauty that is there
That is always there – if you believe
…
Believe not in what you see.
The aftermath of smoke
…
No.
Instead.
…
Believe in what is beyond the blue skies you see
Beyond that aching heart that bleeds
Beyond the sights of the physical
…
Setting your sights on the spiritual
To the only one who saves
To the only one who knows death
Who renders its power useless
…
A snuff of smoke
Against the brilliant light of life
…
A horizon extending from the resurrection to
r e s t o r a t i o n
…
Yes.
That’s it.
…
Driving away from the black
Saying goodbye to the burn of the blaze
…
Facing life
New life
…
The hope of restoration again
Found in the one who came to give rest to your soul
…
There is hope for those who endure
…
A heart secured
in his healing
his bleeding

Note: this is a random reflection from 30.12.2015 on a road trip from Adelaide to Torquay, written while witnessing the bushfires that plagued Ballarat