Climb That Mountain!

Sunday Gulch Trail Mountain

(Small watercolor study)

All my life in my family this mountain was referred to as The Cabin Mountain. Summers in my early childhood were happily spent playing at the Smith Cabin near the famous Mt. Rushmore.  The Smith family were dear friends of ours from Kadoka, South Dakota. Often our two families would be at the cabin together.  The beautiful Black Hills of western South Dakota provided the backdrop for awesome times together as family.

Dad

(Watercolor portrait by Marine artist friend Asante)

Dad would take my older brother Gordon and other teens hiking up to the top of this commanding mountain behind the Smith Cabin.  When I finally was old enough, my rite of passage to this mountain came.  I'll never forget being up on top and surveying miles of Black Hills country in every direction.  That was the first mountain I had the opportunity to climb.  Eventually I went on to climb other peaks, including Mt. Whitney in the Sierra Nevada of California and Long's Peak in the Colorado Rockies.  

(My dad doing a handstand with a fellow marine buddy.)

On this New Year's Day my dad will turn 91 years old, so I'm thinking many thoughts about his life and some things he has taught me.  One thing Dad taught me is to be a mountain climber.  I'm not talking about all the technical jargon and mountain expeditions to high peaks.  Instead, he taught me a way of looking at life and the challenges that come our way. He taught me the value of setting goals and working to accomplish them.  He was an encourager and confidence-builder.  Dad exhibited and modeled drive for me.  He knew about persistence!

(Sketch by fellow Marine Corps buddy Asante)

And that leads me to what my blog post title is about...Climb That Mountain!  This year will contain many challenges in our paths that need to be faced with persistence. Perhaps you are also setting some goals for your life that will need persistence to follow through long after the New Year's resolutions are made.  How will you be doing come March or July or October with those goals?  It takes this tremendous life quality to overcome challenges and reach goals.....PERSISTENCE!

Famous Star Wars actor Harrison Ford had this to say about what persistence looks like: 

I realized early on that success was tied to not giving up.  Most people in this business gave up and went on to other things.  If you simply didn't  give up, you would outlast the people who came in on the bus with you.  Sometimes the only reason you get the job is that you're the only one left.  I didn't make a living acting until I was 35.  Tenacity is critical.

Getting there is all about the process and the process takes time.  Winston Churchill said:

Never give in, never give in, never, never, never---in nothing, great or small, large or petty---never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.

My dad modeled persistence for me in numerous ways.  Happy 91st birthday, Dad!

(Dad overlooking Niagara Falls)

Live bravely and beautifully!

Someday....More!

My art manager/manikin Michelangelo and his wildlife friends are all taking a moment this season to consider what most amazing Gift lay in the manger in Bethlehem so long ago! Here's a poem written by a favorite poet of mine...Ruth Bell Graham...she captures the essence of Christmas in it:

There will be less someday---

much less,

and there will be more:

less to distract

and amuse;

More, to adore;

less to burden

and confuse;

More, to undo

the cluttering of centuries,

that we might view

again, That which star

and angels

pointed to;

we shall be poorer---

and richer;

stripped---and free:

for always there will be a Gift,

always

a Tree!

---Ruth Bell Graham

(This is a piece titled "Adoration of the Shepherds" that was attributed to Rembrandt but since is thought to be a work of one of his students.)

Here's a carol of longing by The Piano Guys that deeply expresses our hearts' desire and hope for ourselves and the world...I love cello music!

Merry Christmas to you!

Live bravely and beautifully!

Animal Facts in the Nativity Story

"Leo the Lionhearted"

(Small watercolor study)

Being the wildlife artist and animal lover that I am, I have enjoyed through the years thinking about the animals that have been portrayed in famous artworks of Christ's birth and nativity scenes.  But on closer investigation, it may come as a shock to find out that the only animals that are mentioned in Christ's birth story were the sheep who were in the fields nearby Bethlehem. And according to Luke's account in Chapter 2, the shepherds had left them to go to the manger scene of Christ, because he reports that they went back to their flocks after seeing the newborn King in the manger.  

Tradition through the centuries has added the donkey, the cow, the camels and the sheep all centered around the Babe in the manger.  I don't object to that in one sense because I love animals.  And because it is a manger location, it is a possibility that animals were present. Being a dog lover, I could well imagine that there might have been a very well-trained sheep dog or two accompanying those shepherds.But those are assumptions and not facts.Sometimes traditions can become so familiar that it leads one to believe that they are part of the truth.  So just a word to the wise!

I know that all creation was invested in the Advent of Christ to the manger, because it ultimately meant the deliverance of all creation from death and decay.  The Bible talks about this in Romans 8:18-24:  

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later.

For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who His children really are.  

Against its will, all creation was subjected to God's curse.  

But with eager hope, 

the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children

in glorious freedom

from death and decay.  

For we know that all creation

has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth

right up to the present time.

Christ Himself is referred to as the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.  God loves His creation and wonderfully it is the whole creation that will one day be free from all the suffering under which it is now subjected.  So enjoy the great art of the centuries that depict the animals at Christ's manger, or the donkey carrying the expectant Mary, or the camels transporting the wise men across the desert sands.  Just remember to keep facts at the core of your Christmas worship.  

 "Adoration of the Shepherds"

oil

by Rembrandt

Live bravely and beautifully!

Surprised By Joy!

(Small watercolor study of a bugling elk)

In the very familiar account of the birth of Jesus Christ, one group of the participants involved stands out to me.  The shepherds who were working the late night shift on the hillsides around Jerusalem resonate with me.  As author Walter Wangerin describes them, they were "the working stiffs" who were the unfortunate fellows to pull the night duty.  Yet it is precisely there, at that late hour and in that desolate place, that the quiet night sky burst into the equivalent of Handel's The Messiah performance with the mass angelic choir bursting with "Glory to God, glory to God, Glory to God in the Highest"!  

Can you imagine what on earth those shepherds' first responses/gut reactions were?!  What would yours have been?  When these sheep herders realized what was being sung and about Who it was being sung, it didn't take long for them to respond with the utmost joy!  Off they headed to see what and Who was in the manger at Bethlehem.  They didn't need a theological treatise to explain to them the essence of the angels' message.  They understood that God had come to rescue mankind from it's great dilemma by providing a Saviour in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ.  That is pure wild joy!!!  That is what Christmas is all about!  

Enjoy this piece, "Glory to God" from Handel's "The Messiah" and imagine you are right there on those quiet hillsides outside Bethlehem with those shepherds when suddenly...:

Live bravely and beautifully!

Sailing into the Season

"The Pacific Northwest-Anacortes, WA"

(Small watercolor study)

The calendar declares today December 1st.  The Christmas season is here....ready or not.  Most of us would prefer the "ready" part.  This all implies that there is a need to prepare. The question follows...prepare for what?  Your answer reveals what your focus will be.  For some, it may be hitting all the malls and stores for good shopping deals, getting the long list of names on the Christmas list crossed off.  That makes me tired already.  For others, it may be attending the numerous concerts and parades.  For still others, it entails getting out the family recipes for great-grandmother's plum pudding or other generational dishes.  For some, it is selecting the Christmas tree, putting up all the decorations and hanging the lights.   

Those activities can all be enjoyed if attended to at a good pace and with time management. But I encourage you to get to the heart of "the what" it is for which you are getting "ready".  The bottom-line reason for this season and all its accompanying activities is to celebrate the first Advent of Christ 2,000 plus years ago in Bethlehem.   Many of us know that and would say that is our focus.  The difficulty comes in maintaining that as the foremost purpose of the season.  So much activity and lists of things to get done can rob us of the peace and joy that this historic event is meant to bring.  So I encourage you to be deliberate in your focus and intentional in preparing for your observance of Christmas.  One way is to celebrate Advent with daily readings in Scripture.  Books are available that provide readings and meditations. Another way is to immerse yourself in the rich, beautiful Christmas music.  One such source I enjoy is the classical King FM Christmas Channel from Seattle streaming online.  This channel plays only the beautiful and best of the Season's music, not the tinny jingles that have nothing to do with Christ's birth.  

Before the paling of the stars,

Before the winter morn,

Before the earliest cock-crow

Jesus Christ was born:

Born in a stable,

Cradled in a manger,

In the world His hands had made 

Born a stranger.

---Christina Rossetti

Here's a favorite Christmas carol of mine that brings a quiet hush to one in the midst of all the going's-on of this wonderful season:  

Live bravely and beautifully!

The Bugler of the Yellowstone

"Bugler of the Yellowstone"

24.25" x 31.5"

$580.00 USD

Available

Did you know that elk once roamed nearly all of the United States and parts of Canada? With the expansion of explorers, fur trade, railroads, settlers, and the gold rush came the encroachment of Native American wildlife habitats.  Large numbers of species were greatly diminished or caused to become extinct.  Thankfully, with conservation and sportsmen's groups working together, the elk are living in various parts of the country again.   One such group is the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.  They state that herds are now located in the western United States, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina.

The bull elk can weigh around 700 lbs. and have antlers weighing 40 lbs.  Their antlers can grow more than an inch a day during summer growth.  They lose their mighty headgear later in winter after the rut season and mating are over.  I have had the privilege of being in the Rocky Mountains during the fall rut season and hearing the elk bugling all around me as I painted.  Here is a sample video of that wild sound:  

I greatly enjoyed the entire process of woodburning this bull elk on birch panel.  If you love the wild outdoors or know of some sportsman who would enjoy having this elk hanging in their den, please contact me.

Lastly, this is Thanksgiving Day here in America.  We have so much for which to be thankful!! May yours be a joy-filled thanksgiving!  My art manikin Michelangelo and my studio wildlife give their Thanksgiving encouragement!

Live bravely and beautifully!

Make Today Your Masterpiece

"Mt. Shuksan"

Small watercolor study

The great basketball coach John Wooden shared a piece of advise his father told him when John was 12 years old:  "Make each day your masterpiece."  Looking at the legacy John Wooden left demonstrates that he took that to heart.  That motto is available to each of us to incorporate into our lives.  What are some ways that you can do that?

1.  "Be where your feet are."  ---Cassandra Barney

We live in the age of attraction distraction.  The digital world slips into every available nook and cranny of our conscious lives.  Drive down a busy city street and you find people with their heads down and their cell phones up.  Constant checking of emails or social media messages can become a dictator and minimizer of our focus, productivity, and a life well-lived.

Counter that impulse with a desire to cultivate a rich and fulfilling life.   Be aware of what's happening in your world and with the people you care about.  Purpose to be outdoors beholding nature regularly.  Read a REAL book with paper and pages to turn.  Read often! Listen to great music and look at great art.  Engage in lively conversation with the people around you.  Notice everything...colors, sounds, smells, temperature, moods, activity, weather.

2.  "Life is the total sum of what you do with the moments given you.  ---Erwin McManus

Staying in the present demands focus.  What happened yesterday is past.  What entices you to worry about for tomorrow hasn't happened, is not guaranteed to happen, and probably won't happen, so why waste your precious time there?!  Today is what counts!  That is where your opportunity to create value and benefit people's lives exists.  Evaluate your time usage of each moment by asking critical questions like:  "Is what I'm doing right now in this moment making a difference for eternity, moving me closer to my goals, or helpful to other people?"  Never underestimate the power of the small!  If what you are doing right now is a wise choice though a seemingly small action, it will accrue interest for you down the road.  C.S. Lewis wrote:  "Good and evil both increase at compound interest.  That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of."  

All you have is today, these moments.  Make them count!  Make today YOUR masterpiece!

Live bravely and beautifully!

America Said Yes!

"Freedom Flying High"

Watercolor

What an historic week this has been in the United States!  The results of the national election are now realized.  America said "yes" to a whole new direction for the country!  

*Americans said "yes" to life!

All citizens, including the unborn, are included in the right to life.  Hopefully Supreme Court justices will now be selected that reflect the heart of the American people.

*Americans said "yes" to limits!

A country without borders is no longer a sovereign nation.  The laws of the land and the requirements to live in this land are to be upheld.  The safety of the country's own citizens and the needs of the veterans and homeless must be given a priority.  When a country can operate from a position of strength and flourishing, it is better able to care for the needs of a hurting world.  America welcomes legal immigrants who understand what made this country great and wish to assimilate and contribute to that culture.  As for the world chaos that has created a refugee crisis, there are better ways to care for those people groups closer to their countries of origin.  Americans are rejecting massive immigration without proper vetting of peoples' backgrounds and intentions for entering the country which endangers the safety of U.S. citizens.

Americans also said "yes" to limits to big government and it's overreach into our lives. The voters said "yes" to less taxation and more fiscal discipline in government."A Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of Government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess of the public treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that Democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy..." Professor Alexander Fraser Tyler writing when the states were still colonies of Great Britain, explaining why democracies always fail.  They said "yes" to limits on globalism and corporate agendas that do not serve the best interests of America.

*Americans said "yes" to liberty!

Our U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights is a cherished living document that safeguards our rights as free citizens.  Our elected officials are sworn into office promising to uphold the Constitution and abide by its laws.  "In a government of laws, the existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy." Justice Louis Brandeis

One final thought about the recent election is this:  no government or leader on this earth is perfect.  The effects of the fall and sin corrupt all of us, from the halls of government all the way to our own hearts.  Let us pray for wisdom for our leaders and for ourselves as citizens of a nation that we will all work for what is true and right and beautiful...that is art!  We ultimately look forward to what George Frederick Handel wrote in his masterpiece oratorio, The Messiah, :

Hallelujah!  

for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth

Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!

The kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord

and of His Christ

And He shall reign forever and ever

King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Hallelujah!

Now for a little bit of presidential trivia...my family has had numerous encounters with Presidents of our country.  My second cousin Audrey had President John F. Kennedy speak at her college commencement address.  My older brother, Gordon Whitbeck, met with President George W. Bush regarding small business administration.  Here's a photo of my brother with President Bush:

And finally, I got to see President-elect Donald Trump on May 7th this year at a huge campaign rally in which I heard Mr. Trump speak.

(from my sketchbook that day)

Live bravely and beautifully!

Shakespeare and Your Vote

"Josie"

Small watercolor study

This coming week will contain an important event in the United States.  It will be Election Day, a wonderful opportunity for U.S. citizens to choose their leaders for the coming term by casting their votes.  It has been a wild and wearying campaign season.  I do encourage you to exercise your right to vote!

Sometimes it seems like corruption and greed loom large in leadership.  The task of overcoming strong powers that want to keep the status quo and use American taxpayer dollars freely without submitting themselves to the same systems can seem daunting.  Our leaders are violating the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights that they vow to protect.  But our vote is our voice!  Please exercise your right to vote.  It does matter!

You may think that it's too late to effect change or useless.  Let me remind you from history that many times when the odds have been overwhelming, the minority was able to overcome the insurmountable and win.  Remember the famous Battle of Agincourt in which England's King Henry V rallied his small battle-weary troup who were vastly outnumbered by the French.  Shakespeare immortalized King Henry's St. Crispin's Day speech in his play, Henry V.    Here is a video clip of it here:

Most of all, pray for the United States and the leadership it needs.  Pray that what is right and good will prevail, that selfish and corrupt interests will be exposed, that we will truly be one nation under God again, and that people's lives can flourish and thrive in our country.

Be strong, take heart, and...vote!

Live bravely and beautifully!

Effects of Attention Residue

"Racking Up the Points"

24" x 36"

Pyrography on birch

First, before I dive into a look at attention residue, let's deal with Mr. Moose here.  I just completed him this past weekend and now he is looking for a good home with ample supplies of water lilies, pine cones, lichen, moss, catkins, tall water grasses, and Moose Tracks Ice Cream.  

Okay, what is attention residue, you ask?  Research has been looking hard at our digital communication pattern, especially in the work place.  They have come up with this term to describe work strategies where you switch from some Task A to another Task B, but your attention doesn't immediately follow.  I have been reading Cal Newport's latest book, Deep Work:  Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, in which he addresses the impacts of distraction on our work.  He asserts that deep work is the only type of work that optimizes your performance.  His definition of deep work is this:  "Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your congnitive capabilities to their limit.  These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate." This is in contrast to shallow work which is non-demanding and often performed while distracted.

I think common sense would make Cal Newport's assertions obvious, but the research results with their stunning implications really drives home the import of what he is saying. One research findings on a particular company found that the company spent over a million dollars paying their employees to process emails instead of focusing on the specialized tasks for which they were hired.  Cal refers to this hard-to-measure amount of time that employees spend on email, social media, and in-house meetings as a metric black hole.  In our own personal lives, if we tracked the amount that we spend on social media per day, we would probably be astounded at the percentages.  It is a black hole that can steal valuable time on more important tasks if we aren't employing limits on ourselves.  

How does one make use of social media effectively without allowing it to become a tyrant with our time?  Cal Newport suggests some surprising but interesting solutions in his book that I'll not divulge here.  I encourage you to read the book.  Some things he touches on are rituals, downtime, embracing boredom, scheduling internet use, accountability, and working like Teddy Roosevelt.  

In another aspect, I wonder if the Deep Work aspect applies to our relationship with God. Are we making the time regularly to be in God's Word and allow Him to do that deep work in us, enabling us to become more like Him?  None of us is immune to the tyranny of the urgent, our busy work lives, the social sphere, and daily life.  Is that why God has reminded us in the Psalms to "Be still, and know that I am God!"  and "Be still in the presence of the LORD...".  As our Creator, He knows that we are only dust and that physically, emotionally, and spiritually we need times of quiet and deep focus on who God is.  This allows His restoring work that King David spoke of in Psalm 23: 

"The LORD is my shepherd;

I have all that I need.

He lets me rest in green meadows;

He leads me beside peaceful streams.

He renews my strength..."

When this is our priority, our performance and quality of life is enhanced.  We are able to deep focus and do our best work.  The world needs more of this kind of living!

Live bravely and beautifully!

Art and Fear

Tree Trimmers with a Bucket Truck

(by a 5 year old artist friend)

Remember when you were in Kindergarten and the task of drawing anything was pure joy?  Nothing daunted you in portraying the concepts you had in your head.  You charged into the project with confidence.   Now as an adult, you shrink from any kind of rendering and say the usual utterance, "I can't even draw a straight line!"  What happens along the way from childhood to adulthood that smothers and demolishes our creative endeavors?

For one thing, we become more self-conscious.  Suddenly we are no longer expressing ourselves freely, but are now aware that others are also creating and we start to compare our work with their work.  Alas...along comes the painful realization that maybe ours is not like theirs and is not "good enough"!  Ouch!  Away goes the pencil and paper, the crayons, the brush, the clay and we shut the door to that part of our lives.

Right now I am privileged to see mass production on a daily basis by the little five year old artist who portrayed the work above.  He is prolific!  Nothing daunts him.  If he gets an idea, off he runs to the well-stocked paper supply shelf.  Back at his table with head bent down, his hands are busy depicting the latest inspiration.  Then comes the jubilant and elaborate detailed account of what the drawing is all about.  It is precious to experience and inspires me in my art production.  My goal with my little artist friend is to keep the creative fires burning, to help him deal with creative works that disappoint him, to work with some that are fixable, and to keep moving on to the next work of art.  I hope he never loses that exuberance and confidence!

What are some tips that can help nudge you back onto the creative path?

1.  Recognize that everyone experiences insecurity and fear about what they create.  

2.  Just sit down and do something.  You are not going after a masterpiece.  You just want to create something that expresses what you are thinking or feeling about a subject.  Set a timer and draw for 15 minutes.  Do that every day for a week.  Keep a small sketchbook handy for those odd moments when you are waiting for something and capture a gesture or a leaf shape.  I was in a busy grocery store line that was slowly moving.  I whipped out my tiny sketchbook and quickly sketched the harried cashier.  

3.  Creativity involves a battle.  Steven Pressfield wrote his famous book encouraging artists called The War of Art.  He dealt with the issues of resistance in an artist's thinking to creating art work.  He said, "Creative work is a gift to the world and every being in it.  Don't cheat us of your contribution.  Give us what you've got."

Chris Orwig had this to say about creativity in his wonderful book, The Creative Fight:  

"The creative spark can easily get snuffed out.  It must be tended to like a campfire on a cold and rainy day.

"You have to go after [creativity] it to claim its prize.  Creativity requires a fight....it is about effort ...the secrets to becoming more creative are always accompanied by habit, practice, and work."

So grab your pen or pencil and join my 5 year old artist friend in the joys and wonder of freely creating.  And don't give me that "but I can't draw a straight line" excuse!  Straight lines are boring!  If you can write your name, you can learn to draw.  

Live bravely and beautifully!

Those Moments Add Up!

(Acrylic study of an elk)

"There's just not enough time!"  Is that a statement that you may have uttered regarding some project you have desired to accomplish?  We all have ideas on our bucket lists that we'd like to achieve at some point in our lives, but so much of daily life and the tyranny of the urgent seems to keep kicking those ideas down the road into the future.  

May I share with you a powerful little quote by Erwin McManus that acts as a regular encouragement in the creative fight for me?  Here it is:

"Life is the total sum of what you do with the moments given you."

Time and again those words have acted as a goad to my decision making when it comes to getting art work created.  For some number of years I was working full-time in schools in Colorado, so time for art creation was minimal.  But I took as a goal to get in 20 hours a week in my studio working and studying on art.  I drew up little circles and divided them into 4 segments.  Each segment was 15 minutes of work, making a circle equal one hour.  Here's a sample:

These acted as time sheets for me.  By them I could assess my use of time and be encouraged by seeing how much could be accomplished by redeeming 15 minutes here and there in my week.  I saw how that adds up!  Now I use a notebook to record the amount of time spent in different aspects of my art endeavors.  Here's a sample of that:  

Art is a solitary endeavor normally.  Whatever is going to be created is up to me.  I must put in the time and engage in the creative fight if anything worthwhile is going to result.  So I have found that keeping a record of my creative time use keeps me accountable.  The artist Chuck Close made a statement about artists and their work habits that really resonates with me:

"True inspiration is for amateurs.  The rest of us just show up and get to work."

I also find a grip on creative time from what Annie Dillard has written in The Writing Life:

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.  What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing.  A schedule defends from chaos and whim.  It is a net for catching days."

So here's one of the current creative endeavors I've been doing in the time I can carve out of my work week:  

This is a 24" x 36" woodburning I'm doing of a moose.  It all happens incrementally, like that saying:  "The wheels of progress grind slowly, but they grind!"

Also, the wisest man ever, King Solomon wrote this about time usage in Proverbs 10:4:  

"Little by little the diligent make it happen."

So be encouraged and take action on that creative desire, even if it is a moment here and there at a time!

Live bravely and beautifully! 

Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Calm

Sunday afternoon found me enjoying a calm, crisp, sunny autumn day watching the incoming tide splash against the shoreline.  The beach was fairly quiet except for a few clam diggers here and there.  I enjoyed drawing in my nature journal and beholding the idyllic scenery.  

At the same time, thousands of miles away, Hurricane Matthew was battering the Caribbean and inflicting tremendous devastation.  Over near South Korea a typhoon was wreaking havoc.  What a paradox weather can be....sunny and pleasant or terrifying and dangerous! Some may wonder if God is really in control of the weather, and if so, why does He allow the terrible suffering?  How can He be a good God with a track record like that?  

Those are serious questions to ponder.  A man named Job also encountered serious damage from severe weather.  A major storm took out his oldest son's home, collapsing it on all sides and killing all ten of Job's children inside.  Job went on to suffer the loss of all he owned and endured great physical misery.  He, devout man that he was, ventured to ask God why there was evil in the world.  In a very interesting dialogue, God responded to Job's questions.  You can read about it in the book of Job in the Bible.  God made it clear to Job that He was in control of nature and that His ultimate purposes could be trusted. 

We live in a fallen world that has such "natural disasters" like earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes.  These are the results of the curse operating in nature.  The pain and sorrow experienced demonstrate the imperfect world we inhabit.  But even in this imperfect world, God demonstrates His involvement.  David wrote in Psalm 148:8 that "fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather obey Him."  Job modeled the best response to adversity.  He didn't blame God for it.  Instead he chose to trust God's goodness even though at the time he didn't understand the "Why?".   Job responded, "The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away.  Praise the name of the Lord!"  Later in the dialogue after God had asked Job a series of questions, Job acknowledged that he was in way over his head in understanding the mighty purposes of God in his life.  

Our hearts go out to those suffering from the devastating storms and our prayers are for them and those engaged in helping to bring relief.  Their loss and sorrow is enormous and incomprehensible!

Live bravely and beautifully!