Thoughts on Mother Nature

Several items in the news lately have brought a thought back to me. Mother Nature is out to get us! She doesn’t care if we lived in nice houses. Or if we have bridges and roads to travel on. Or if we have bug spray and sunscreen lotion when we hike. She’s still out to get us.
Sometimes all Mother Nature has to do is sit back and watch. Consider the lady who petted the nice buffalo grazing beside the road. Apparently she hadn’t read all the signs and literature that says buffalo are wild animals and can be dangerous. But she found all that out after the buffalo gored her. It wasn’t the buffalo’s fault; he was just tired of her ignoring the rules.
Or take the young man who jumped off the boardwalk in Yellowstone, walked across the hot surface, and fell into a pool of boiling water. I guess he was illiterate because there are signs everywhere (I’ve been there so I know) saying you must stay on the designated path or boardwalk for your own safety. It’s also in the literature the Park Service hands you when you enter the park. His end was a horrendous lesson to all of us that those signs are not for our viewing pleasure, but are good advice to be heeded.
Sometimes Mother Nature sends her agents after us. Ticks are lurking in the foliage just waiting to suck our blood and give us Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The mosquitoes are flying around, taking aim to prick us, leaving behind West Nile or zika viruses. Rattlesnakes and cottonmouths lurk under rocks waiting for the hapless victim to reach in. Black widow spiders hide, waiting to take a bite. Let’s not talk about all the carnivores that are prowling on land and in the seas for fresh meat.
But it doesn’t end there. Floods, earthquakes, lightning, hurricanes, and tornados shake our very foundations and wipe towns and people off the map. Mother Nature laughs and says, “You just think you’re in control! Let me show you who really is: it’s Almighty God!”
Now that we’re in the middle of summer, go outside and enjoy God’s creation. Have fun in the woods, on the beach, or anywhere you can take in fresh air and nature. There’s beauty all around us. Use some common sense. Don’t forget your bug spray and sunscreen. Watch your step and where you reach. Read the signs and warnings and heed them. Watch the skies for trouble. And say a prayer to the one who controls all. He created a beautiful world.