No one has ever given me an adequate explanation for the pain in the world. Easy answers make me crazy and even the Book of Job artfully mocks those who, sitting in safety, offer facile answers to the ones who suffer.
Oddly (or perhaps not so oddly) I have a mental block whenever I try to remember the word defined as "an explanation of how a good Creator can allow suffering and evil." The word is "theodicy" and I have to look it up EVERY SINGLE TIME I want to use it. "Epistemology" I've got. Ditto for "apocalyptic" and other hard words that are fun to say but "theodicy" always slips away like a burglar through the back door.
So I'm not even going to try to offer an explanation. I do, however, have an observation. I saw Stu's ashen face after the bird was dead. Only love leaves such a mark. Love wins.
Next subject (that's actually related if you think about it): The wildflowers are rampant in the mountains right now -- rhododendrons that appear to be lit from within, bear grass, Indian paintbrush, columbine, wild raspberries (that look exactly like strawberry plants), twin flowers,. Glory and more glory everywhere you look. Exhibit A is Reflection Lake at Mt. Rainier (see photo above).
Today's front yard critter count:
Deer: 1 doe
Raccoons: 2 (Crabby Mama's youngest, smallest, and sweetest daughter and Old Tailless Guy's Little Woman without her 4 eggplant-sized babies)
Mice: 1 (sheltering underneath the wellhead cover)
