". . . Brother Fire . . . Full of power and strength."
Click on the photo to read St. Francis' Canticle of the Creatures..
There are only two things on our hill in the Jerusalem Hills: my village and a monastery.
If you have seen my posts lately, you know that a forest fire broke out on Saturday within the monastery property. Police thinks the cause was a carelessly thrown cigarette.
For That's My World Tuesday I promised to show four GOOD things from the scene of the fire, 22 hours after it was extinguished.
Not often you see this color inside a pine cone.I'm hoping they burst open from the heat of the flames and spread new seeds for the future.
If you enlarge this picture you can see yellow bees.The poor beekeeper monk lost at least a dozen hives (bee boxes).
Here the surviving bees returned to their former home to collect the last drops of honey.
I didn't want to get too close, but this was a somehow very touching and surprising scene.
How wonderfully green the tall cypress trees look in comparison.The best thing about the fire was that it did not reach the monastery church or buildings, which are located down at the base of these two trees.
The Franciscan flag still waves!Praise the merciful Lord for sparing the Brothers.
.
I am glad the fire was no worse! I live in the mountains of Idaho, and hear of fire somewhere relatively nearby almost every summer. It is frightening. But God is in control; He has made this earth to regenerate after fire, and uses the fire to clear out unhealthy growth. I believe the pine cone you showed will indeed be the source of new trees; and I'm sure the beekeeper will be able to replace his hives. Very soon new green will be visible and in a few years the forest will be beautiful again.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
I like this part of your writing, Dina:
ReplyDelete"I'm hoping they burst open from the heat of the flames and spread new seeds for the future."
In continuous cycles of birth and death, creation and destruction, is world lives on ...
The fire is terrible, however.
Grace and the miracle of life. There is much to thank God for. Beautiful post, Dina.
ReplyDeleteHeartening to see that the people od Israel pray for eachother beyond sectarian bounds, Dina!
ReplyDeleteAloha
Comfort Spiral
fire is always a terrible news. glad that nobody hurts
ReplyDeleteI'd missed the drama while I was in Freiburg. I am so glad the bees managed to escape. Winter will be harsh on them though if they can't get supplement to the little honey they might find.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad some of the bees survived. Perhaps they'll start another hive elsewhere. I hope those pine cones sprout new life onto the scorched earth.
ReplyDeleteThe bees and the pine cones are a good sign. I am very happy to hear no one was hurt. Thanks for sharing your photos.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the fire is finished and the Franciscan Brother are safe. Thanks for sharing these news, Dina.
ReplyDeleteHaving been away from the computer for a few days, I return to find you have had your own brush with wildfires. Yes, praise God that nothing more was destroyed...but how sad for the trees and the bees. But life will be renewed again...and may it be as quickly as possible for those burned hillsides.
ReplyDeleteIm glad the fire did not reach the monastery, interesting post, love the photos!
ReplyDeletedear Dina-beautiful poignant post -ah that is so touching to see the monastery flag.
ReplyDeleteBEautiful moving post.
I had to back up because I can tell you honestly Dina that I don't come to Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo to hear about INdiana Jones and it is to escape from Indiana Jones. ha ha ha.
Well everyone is allowed one complaint.
shalom have a beautiful day filled with magic.
Dina I just read a past post -so the fire was only 5 minutes away from your village...OH NO!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so grateful your village is fine.
and a cigarette was the cause!!!!!!infinite woe to cigarette smoking.
shalom love and light.
Not all the bees fried. When the weather gets extremely warm my bees leave the hives confines for the outside of the entrance where they make a kind of beard form. Smoke makes them kind of groggy though. Geez all this smoke and ash. Sometimes it's all to much
ReplyDeleteHi Dina, yesterday, I spent the day at a Franciscan convent visiting one of my seminary Professors. So, it was a blessing to see your reference to the Canticle of the Creatures.
ReplyDeleteI, also, appreciate your beautiful spin on the trajic fire!