AH, LOS ANGELES
You will be more beautiful still
How do you speak about that which is unspeakable?
LA was my home for most of my adulthood. My career began there. My daughter was born there. I’ve had the most significant experiences of my life in Los Angeles. It’s a city I love.
For me there’s a rush of adrenaline just driving down Sunset Blvd. - or at least there was. There is a spirit in that city that is like none other. Even during the AIDS crisis, when tears flowed so freely, that spirit pulled us through. And I know that now - with tears flowing at rates we can’t even imagine - the spirit of Los Angeles will pull people through this awful, agonizing hour. It is the City of Angels, after all.
Angelenos know how to love one another. I’ve experienced it. There have been moments of suffering due to this fire that most of us will never even know about. And likewise, moments of heroism in response to it. Los Angeles will become an even brighter light because of this. I know it. Its people, its government, its heart will endure.
And it will transform.
Some events in life are full tilt catastrophe, and this is one of them. We emerge from such times different; we will never be the same. But it is up to us whether we become defeated and broken, or rather illumined and stronger. I have no doubt that the City of Angels will now grow more wings.
Much has been lost, but in the final analysis much will have been learned. For those traumatized by these events, I pray for you - so many of us are praying for you. May God comfort you in this agonizing hour.
Dear God,
Please bring solace
to those who have lost so much.
Pour forth Divine waters on the fires now raging.
Calm the fires and calm our hearts.
May miracles occur in realms unseen.
Give hope to the hopeless
and love to those who feel none.
Bless Los Angeles as she walks through
this valley of pain.
Guide her to a better place.
And so it is.
Amen
There is no doubt in my mind. Los Angeles will be back…
Thank you, Marianne. We live blocks from the evacuation zone in Pasadena. That first night the winds which had gusted up to 86 mph were supposed to get even ferocious from 10pm to 5am. Instead, they miraculously calmed and, at least in our area, never got worse. I have friends who lost everything. We came too close for comfort. But you're right about the love here. People around the country that despise us for some reason despite us subsidizing dozens of states are staying ridiculous things at a heartbreaking time. But no matter. The love you speak of is real.
This is the prayer I needed to see so I can repeat it.
I have been constantly heartened during this heartbreaking time by the amount of people on my Instagram stories who are collecting donations and posting how to help. So many people are rising up at this time to come together for the people who have lost everything.