Preparedness

As Hurricane Ike reeks havoc down south, the last few weeks I've been thinking about preparedness and emergency kits etc. When Y2K was looming I did a lot of thinking and substantial preparation and I was ready for 2 weeks without power and perhaps gas and water. I learned about water purification and had a survival plan in place. When Blackout struck the North Eastern North America I was ready. I cooked my meal that night did some reading by candle light and sat out and watched the stars. A month or so ago I sorted out my first aid box and realized I had probably too many things so I resolved them down into a pack I could throw into luggage in a emergency. Also I was at the MEC recently and saw that emergency preparedness kits were on sale. How prepared am I for disaster or emergencies?

So I'm thinking about sorting things because I already have the basics. Hand-cracked flashlight, candles, matches. Emergency blanket and tarps together with sleeping bags, butane stove and gas cylinders, First Aid kit supplies. Basic to human survival are water, shelter/warmth and food. Then information as orientation and source of hope and a sense of security become important. I think therefore I am missing a few things such as water purification supplies, dehydrated food/high energy food source, hand-cranked radio. Strangely this is linked to my cleaning up as well because it is a way of sorting all the different bits I have lying around and centralizing them.

I think this should also apply to the spiritual life and preparedness to meet adversity and disappointment. This last week I was really disappointed by a few things but also because I already had a number of other things in place the impact was substantially reduced. My English conversation class has been cancelled because only two people enrolled, however I still have another elsewhere due to happen and there are students expressing interested in having tutoring. No target students turned up last Saturday but because I had set up analytics I could identify at least significant first time visits to the website. Dealing with what are called desolations, times when God seems far away, is always part of treasuring consolations, moments when God is close. Thus a preparedness is necessary, the good times can prepare you for the bad times. I am not really a last-minuter probably because of fear of failure but in my own defence I'll say good planning and preparation is as much a spiritual activity as being spontaneous. In fact sometimes adequate planning and preparation allows you to be more spontaneous and open to the leading of the Spirit because you're resourced with your emergency preparedness kit.