Friday night there was a massive thunderstorm, bringing hail and a power outage to my town. I was awed by the ferocity of God’s creation and at how small and fragile I really am.
Without electricity, I was at a loss. My internet connection was down, and my laptop would have only lasted about 2 hours anyways. I couldn’t read a book because I had no lights. I had a fridge full of food that would go bad if the power did not come back on. I had a suddenly stale, hot and humid apartment because I could no longer power the fans that keep my third-floor apartment tolerable on these hot summer days.
And then it hit me: this is normal. Most people in the world today (never mind throughout history) have lived like this. Electricity makes me feel like a god, invulnerable to the power of God’s creation around me. I’m in control; I do not need to submit to day and night or the changing of seasons.
But a few hours without power last night brought reality crashing home: without the crutch of electricity powering my illusions, I realized that I am small and utterly dependent on both God and many other people in ways that I fail to realize most of the time.