So I’m now resigned to the fact that all of my posts will involved quotes from books.  What can I say?  I like to read, alright.  I also like to do other things, but not everyone wants to hear about my deer hunts this winter or what my son learned how to say today.  So you’ll have to live with some quotes that this old English major thinks are meaningful.

One of my favorite “beach reads” of all time is _The Perfect Storm_ by Sebastian Junger.  Maybe you shouldn’t read it if you’re at the beach during a hurricane or monsoon, but otherwise it’s a great story.  And that’s what we’re all looking for, right?  Good stories?  Stories, especially redemptive stories, remind us of the deep truths of our existence.  They help us connect our story with God’s story, and _The Perfect Storm_, among other things, reminds us of God’s power.  Junger writes this about hurricanes:

“A mature hurricane is by far the most powerful event on earth; the combined nuclear arsenals of the United States and the former Soviet Union don’t contain enough energy to keep a hurricane going for one day.  A typical hurricane encompasses a million cubic miles of atmosphere and could provide all the electric power needed by the United States for three or four years.”

All the nuclear bombs in the world wouldn’t keep a hurricane going for a week!  That fact just reminds me how vulnerable we are in relation to a mighty God!  Psalm 33 says it this way:

“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.  He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses.”

Wouldn’t it be great to have someone who can put the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans into jars protecting and preserving you?  Jesus tells us that we do.  Speaking of believers (who he calls his sheep) he says, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”  That means not Satan, not other people, not yourself, nothing and nobody can snatch you out of the Father’s hand once the Holy Spirit dwells in your heart.  He’s unpacked his bags and he’s not going anywhere!  Now that’s good “beach read” material.

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