Good fortunes in the midst of hardships.

Last week a fire tore through a house on Third Avenue in Smithers. Apex was called by the insurance company to do the clean up, so that meant a whole lotta hours for Temujin and his co-employees. I've never seen a house fire close-up before, but now that I have I know that I never want it to happen to me! It was the eeriest feeling in the world to be shovelling ash that was once a coffee table, book shelf, night-stand, etc. The worst of all was going through the kids' rooms. A half-burned crib, drawers filled with smoked out kids clothes, and melted toys were just some of the wonderful sights I saw this past week.

Shortly before the fire started, the wife had taken off her wedding ring and put it on her night-stand before she went to bed. According to the story I heard, the fire started when a burning candle fell(?) in the master bedroom. It doesn't take long for even a small fire to blaze out of control, and this was no exception. Everything in the master bedroom was destroyed; we salvaged next to nothing. This afternoon, around 4:00pm, we were just finishing pulling out the remnants of the carpet in that bedroom and shovelling the charred remains into garbage bags. Lo and behold, in the corner of the bedroom, was a gold wedding ring. It was quite blackened, but retained its shape despite the tremendous heat it was exposed to (I suspect that gold must have an extremely high melting temperature).

I have been asking a number of questions about marriage lately. I have polled singles, divorcees, folks who have been married for a couple of years, and some who have been married many years. As most of you know, I still have a hard time with the notion of a wedding. But I think I am beginning to understand why so many people place such a high value on marriage. When two people can withstand the flames, the fire, the hardship, the struggles of life, and still find each other... there is strength in that. There is hope in that. For Christians, it is something sacred, something spiritual as well as physical. I am not sure of this couple's religious affiliation, but I am sure they are not Christians. Even so, their wedding ring taught me something today.