Two quick items:
Please welcome our new author/contributor Jeff S. His bio will read:
Jeffrey S. is a married father of two girls who is a lifelong resident of the Chicagoland area. He got his B.A. degree in Economics at the University of Michigan (and studied abroad for a year at the London School of Economics, where he lived in a row house in the East End and still misses fish and chips!) and his Masters degree in Public Policy from the University of Chicago. He currently lives in Chicago where his girls attend public school and he attends one of the most beautiful Catholic churches in the country. Jeff is a revert to the Catholic faith but says a prayer of thanks whenever he remembers his Protestant brothers and sisters who helped lead him back to Christ. As a result he has a strong interest in Christian apologetics, as well as Christian art, literature and music. He also loves the classics of Western civilization as well as more modern political and policy writing and does a lot of reading in his free time. He recently read a blogger who described himself as an "urban progressive" — Jeff considers himself the exact opposite — a reactionary lover of cities who hopes to someday be considered the Christian Theodore Dalrymple of the blogosphere.
Item two is to urge prayer for our countrymen in Colorado afflicted by terrible fires. I heard from a friend that in the beautiful city of Colorado Springs, damn near everyone west of I-25 is on evacuation notice. That’s staggering. And this is on the heels of a horrific blaze near Ft. Collins, another glorious town on the Front Range. May the God of all peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, equip Colorado with everything good, and bless, keep and uphold the folks there.
Comments (5)
Welcome to Jeffry S.!
And Paul, are any of your family members in, as it were, the line of fire?
Posted by Lydia | June 27, 2012 7:51 PM
Paul, 32,000 have been evacuated just from Colorado Springs (as of yesterday; I think the Woodland Park area was just evacuated today), and Manitou Springs is still under pre-evac notice (as of 6pm EDT that I know of). Whole neighborhoods have gone up in flames; the Flying W Ranch is completely destroyed and flames are threatening Glen Eyrie and the Air Force Academy (which has been evacuated). Here is a link to stunning photographs from the Denver Post:
http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2012/06/27/colorado-wildfires-waldo-canyon-fire-colorado-springs/5732/
There has so far been no report of ANY casualty from this fire -- an amazing miracle.
Summit Ministries moved their students to a church which welcomed them and is trying to decide whether to hold its next session -- slated to begin Sunday -- or cancel it. They've been able to continue this session's classes in the church and the students have had opportunities to serve in the community. The Air Force Academy was to welcome a new class tomorrow but likely will have to delay it.
There is some rain, but my friends in Manitou Springs commented that while rain might help, it may also bring lightning and more winds. It was strong winds that caused the fire to leap the ridge from Waldo Canyon yesterday and come into Colorado Springs.
I just heard that the Air Force has sent in their wild land fire fighters this afternoon. The fire has been prioritized as the worst in the nation and firefighters and others from around the country are helping.
Please do pray that people continue to be smart and safe and that the firefighters can get control of this terrible blaze.
I've posted a bunch of pictures at FaceBook that my friends in the area have taken or shared.
Posted by Beth Impson | June 27, 2012 8:22 PM
Oh, I did hear of one death from the Hill Park fire (Fort Collins); lots of property/housing damage there but the fire is finally coming under control. I heard earlier today that Boulder is now being threatened by another fire, but I don't know its current status.
Posted by Beth Impson | June 27, 2012 8:25 PM
Welcome, Jeffrey! I'm looking forward to your contributions.
Yes - prayers for the people of Colorado.
Posted by Jeff Culbreath | June 27, 2012 9:36 PM
Steve Burton's replacement ?
Posted by Bruce | July 11, 2012 3:10 PM