A Tale of Two Fires

London Ontario Explosion 

In mid-August an allegedly drunk young driver careened off a London Ontario street into what was thankfully an empty home. The impact severed a gas line and the resulting explosion leveled the house and damaged several more. How no one, including the driver escaped without injury is hard to explain but a huge relief. Quickly the city mobilized to support these unsuspecting victims and it was heartwarming to hear about the community response.

A few days later a massive fire broke out in a slum in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka. Approximately 2,000 tin shacks were destroyed leaving a least 10,000 people  homeless. Fortunately most of the residents were away celebrating a Muslim religious holiday but these people who were already poor lost everything. 



Aftermath of the Dhaka slum fire 

Because we are Canadians we got lots of news for days about what happened in London. You could be forgiven if you didn't hear about what unfolded in Bangladesh because it was reported then gone in the raging stream of mass shootings, suicide bombings, and presidential tweeter-tantrums. 

We get a perspective on world news which is fairly even here in Canada and we should be grateful. Just the same, not long after I heard far more on CBC about how Daniel Levy of Schitt's Creek is judging an Etsy contest than I did about South East Asia. Just to clarify, Schitt's Creek is clever and Levy is a delightful guy. It's all just weird. 

As you can see this "tale of two fires" has stuck with me for weeks, I suppose because we're always trying to figure out how we respond to Jesus' question "who is your neighbour?" We are often overwhelmed by the sorrow of our world and it's hard to imagine how we might respond to every tragedy. Day by day, we can pray and act and realize that God calls us to compassion.