Controlled Burn

She wasn’t very happy with me by the time we reached the North Rim.  It wasn’t as if I’d done anything wrong, but apparently I hadn’t done the right thing either. Jenny and I had been living together for a few years when we took our first trip out west.  Rocky Mountain National Park, Lake Havasu, Las Vegas, Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon.  I thought I’d planned the trip of a lifetime and couldn’t imagine why she wasn’t as thrilled with our itinerary as I’d been.  

Although I’d never been to the desert southwest I’d done my homework and thought I was prepared.  Jenny assumed I’d planned everything so thoroughly that an engagement ring must have been in my carry on.  It wasn’t.  By the time we made it to the Grand Canyon things had gotten a little chilly between us despite the hundred degree temperatures outside.

As we got out of the car and walked toward the rim the scale of the place slowly began to register.  It's a cliche to say words don't do it justice but they don't.  We’d heard that the smoke on the south rim was the result of a controlled burn. The US Forestr Service was clearing away dead trees and debris in hope of  preventing an even worse fire.  I thought it sounded dangerous.  One minor miscalculation could mean disaster.  You've got to be extremely confident to play with fire in the high desert.

When we returned home from the trip I was anxious to have our film developed.  Several of our Grand Canyon shots were pretty good but one photograph stood out from the dozens we took at the North Rim.  It's the shot of a lone long dead tree  with the canyon behind it.  The background is hazy in mid field with the most dramatic blue sky above.  I framed that print years ago  and it has been hanging in our home ever since.  When I looked at it again recently it triggered something.  Fire is a remarkably powerful tool, but it can also devastatingly destructive.  Even when we think we know what we’re doing the risk of harnessing such a powerful force is always great.  Fighting fire with fire.  The same thing is going on in Washington.  

He’s setting back fires. He came to political prominence by disparaging our first black president and relentlessly questioning his heritage.   He announced his candidacy by punching our neighbors in the mouth, accusing them of sending us their murderers and rapists.  He took on the Pope for daring to suggest that Christians should strive to build bridges not walls.  He’s conjured up images of the “white man’s burden” in helping Puerto Rico and openly disrespected black pro athletes over a peaceful protest.  The list goes on.  It would probably be easier to list the people he hasn't gone after  - and all of this in the name of making America great again.  

Few things offend me more than when someone uses patriotism or religion to justify their clearly selfish motivations.  There’s a Bible verse that resonates with me. It's from Mark 8:36:  "for what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul.”  Let's just say for the sake of argument that his tax policy doesn't lead to an even greater maldistribution of wealth than we're already experiencing (which it almost certainly will).  And say that his repeal and reboot of Obamacare into the new, improved and renamed Trumpcare is streamlined and more affordable.  Finally let’s pretend that America’s jobs return on a level beyond anything even the president himself could have possibly imagined.  Reports from the women’s march the day after his inauguration suggest somewhere around two million people took to the streets to protest.  This was only the beginning.  We’re heading toward a long four years.  If you think tempers flared up during last year’s election cycle just wait until America’s cities begin to flare up.  It could be 1967 all over again.  The “Long Hot Summer.”  159 riots nationwide.  Even if we have our jobs, our healthcare and our tax cuts will it have all have been worth it?  I just hope he knows what he's doing. It's easy to start a fire, it isn't always so easy to extinguish it . . .