Gordon Lightfoot wrote, "Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours." Tonight, about 10 minutes ago, the city of Joplin, Mo. was put under a tornado warning. An angry line of storms is advancing on southwest Missouri out of Oklahoma. Of course, the Joplin Tornado of 2011 was just 48 hours ago and now this storm-ravaged and shocked town will hunker down, hoping for the best and bracing for the worst, which they are all too well acquainted with.
When I heard the announcement of tonight's storm warning, Lightfoot's words came immediately to mind. For us in the Midwest, substitute the word 'winds' for 'waves' and line would be appropriate for Tornado Alley.
There's a sense of "Oh no, not again!" when you hear that Joplin is under the gun again. It seems unfair. And you may wonder if God knows what He's doing. It's an absurd thought, of course, but still the man-centered 'fair' trigger gets tripped.
The grass withers and the flowers fade. Storms that are coming imply that soon they will be going. Our lives are like the morning dew, all glisteny one minute and gone the next.
But God.
God is immutable, as the old theologians are wont to proclaim. That's changeless for you and me. What God has always been, He will always be. Lightfoot (and we!) are wrong to suggest that somehow the love of God has gone somewhere when the going gets rough. It cannot go anywhere, for God cannot cease to exist.
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