Acts Of God
August 6, 1994
My grandfather was not a formally religious man, and only infrequently attended church. He referred to his sometimes annual pilgrimage, performed more for purposes secular than divine, as "fire insurance." This irritated my grandmother, which is probably why he said it.
Roaring of engines, howls of sirens announced the conflagration of the Presbyterian Church up the street. Billows of smoke tinting the light as during an eclipse of the sun. When you hear the Devil fiddling in a burning church, it makes you wonder who's really in charge.
3/17/99
