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Praying on this rainy day, I was reflecting on the fires last summer around Redding.   They were evidenced by several extremely smokey days.    I recall stepping outside one morning to the overwhelming smell of smoke.   It was so thick that I had to supress a cough.   The visibility was very poor.   One of the challenges on those kinds of western days is that new fires can be hidden in the smoke of existing fires. Spotting new flames in time is a big challenge.     In a bad fire season, the smaller fires can do great damage before they are discovered.

There must be some spiritual lesson there. Perhaps in regards to our culture.    When our family first returned from the overseas mission field, we were appalled at the commercials and immorality of prime time TV shows.   We could easily see the flaming threat to purity of mind.    I noticed recently that I’m not as shocked anymore.    Am I a victim of cultural smoke that hides those smaller but dangerous new fires?

Open and enlighten the eyes of my heart, Lord.   Purify my conscience and continue to process me toward holiness, make me holy as you are holy.

Isa 9:18
Surely wickedness burns like a fire;
it consumes briers and thorns,
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,
so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.