Fay Came To Tampa Bay And She's Been Gentle With Us

I've watched the weather channel more since we moved to Florida than I ever have in my life. Of course, you understand why. When you live on a 500 acre island, you'd better know what's happening during the hurricane season.

You've probably seen the news about Tropical Storm Fay. They predicted that it might be a hurricane by the time it hit land. As it turned out, that wasn't the case. The storm came aground last night, about 175 miles south of us. It's windy here today, but no worse than many other days.

It's fascinating to watch the weather forecasters talk about things like this. Last night, on the local news, they warned us again and again about what might happen. It's only a storm now, but it could become a hurricane. It is heading east of us now but it could change direction during the night. Melanie and I commented that at times it almost sounded as if some of them would be disappointed if it didn't come here and blow us all away.

Now, in fairness to weather forecasters, I get it . . . to a point. They want to make sure that people take the threat seriously. After all, as Wilma and Katrina and others showed us, hurricanes are nothing to play around with when they're near.

I note, though, that the way the forecasters approach potential hurricanes is the way I've often approached threats in my life. I look into the future and begin to imagine what I'll do if this happens or that happens. At times, I've found growing anxiety about things that might happen. But like the threat from Fay last night, they usually don't happen.

I was on the tiny island of Anegada some years ago. I was talking to a taxi driver and asked her, "Have you been here during a hurricane?" "Yeah, mon" she answered. "Did you think about leaving the island before it came?" "No, mon," she said. "What do you do when you hear a hurricane is coming?" I asked her. "You make your preparations and entrust yourself to God," she said.

That's it. We aren't to be oblivious to future danger. We act wisely by making our preparations. Then we entrust ourselves to God and don't worry about it.