As we have all heard over the past weeks there has a terrible tragedy that hit the Los Angeles
County. From one-minute to the next entire families lives and homes were obliterated by the
uncontrollable wild fires that swept across the area. Through different social media and news outlets there
have been a lot of comments as to why terrible things happen to good people, but sadly also comments of
how terrible things happen to people that deserve it. There was someone I was surprised to even hear say
that “this was God’s way of judging Hollywood.” Are you serious?… Did the fires just circle around
Rodeo Drive and up Sunshine Blvd to the famous Hollywood sign? The fires swept through thousands of
peoples homes, from the smallest RV at the local trailer park to the million-dollar mansion up on the hills.
The fires did not discriminate based on socioeconomic or ethnic background, the fires took everything on
its destructive path. To those of us who have had the opportunity to visit LA, you know that on the ground
it is an incredible community, filled with hard working people, loving families and individuals that like all
of us have goals are dreams.
The story however has made me reflect on a question that I ask myself everyday in regards to my
own life. Why did this happen? Although the truth is I don’t know exactly, I can guess that the wind blew
at hurricane speeds, there was something that caught fire and the rest is just history. God, the cosmos,
karma, bad luck, bad publicity or political motives have nothing to do with anything that happens. We can
sit here and argue for hours over a list of scientific or divine reasons to every event, as human beings we
are programmed to find order, to rationalize and to try and find the answer to every little occurrence in our
life. The reality is, we can spend more time trying to figure things out than to fix them. The only fact that
we need to realize, is that we live in a broken fallen world, where sometimes there is no explanation, but
we must realize that it could be us tomorrow. Through our life we face difficultly and pain constantly. I
have learned, like the people in LA, that the only way to overcome our challenges is by walking together.
Our friends, family and our community become our support network, and they are the only ones that can
help us to get through tough and struggling times. In a life full of uncertainties, the better we as people
manage to be prepared, the better we can overcome challenges and be able to help others in times of
crisis. I invite you to also reflect on this tragedy, and rather than finding reasonable explanations to every
occurrence in our life, focus on the people that are around you and how are you prepared to face the
uncertainties that life throws at you.
I want you to always remember that no matter the situation you may be face, time and time again
on the other side of every disaster and tragedy there are always people who can testify that God worked
miracles after what they went through.