God's Hand

I have asked and have heard many others ask when events or personal situations take a downturn, "Where is God's Hand in this? Why do I not see him moving?"

The world is an incredibly interconnected place. The idea that when a butterfly flaps it wings in Mexico creates a chain of events that eventually lead to a typhoon in Singapore is true. I have a hard time understanding and recognizing the fulfillment of Gods plan because I can only envision cause and effect as separate incidents and God being Omnipresent and Omnipotent can see then all at the same time and secondly, Gods does not have to take huge macro-steps to get things done. So take hart God is making the tiniest of changes that will great the greatest effect for you and me.

Ephesians 1:11
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

As a case in point here is a Article from John Kass that brought this thought into my head:
Daley up to his gills in diplomatic mess
John Kass
November 28, 2007

Because of a humble gift given to him by the Daleys of Chicago almost 50 years ago, Emperor Akihito of Japan was recently forced to apologize to his nation in an embarrassing loss of face.

The gift?

A couple of lowly bluegills -- Illinois' official state fish -- from the Shedd Aquarium, given to then-Crown Prince Akihito by Mayor Richard J. Daley in 1960.


The tasty Chicago bluegills escaped into Japanese lakes and rivers, making more bluegills, ravaging the ecosystem, steadily destroying the native species and the fish harvests.

That's why, a few days ago, in what The New York Times called "a rare expression of contrition," Emperor Akihito was compelled to humble himself. That's unheard of in Japan, a country where honor is paramount. It's also unheard of for the mayor of Chicago to apologize for anything. If you don't believe me, just take a ride on the public transportation system.

"I brought bluegill back from the United States nearly 50 years ago and donated them to a research institute of the Fisheries Agency," the embarrassed emperor was quoted as saying in a wire report.

"Its cultivation started as there were great expectations of raising them for food in those days," said the emperor, an ichthyologist (fish expert). "My heart aches to see it has turned out like this."

My heart aches, too. But not for the emperor. It aches for Mayor Richard M. Daley's pinkie.

The only thing to do, it seems, is for the son of the great fish giver, our current mayor, to act honorably in recompense for this diplomatic disaster.

His father, Chicago's fish giver -- the late Richard J. -- often fondly dreamed of Chicagoans and that noblest of creatures, the fish.

"People from the Loop could catch fish in the Chicago River and barbecue them on lower Wacker Drive," he was known to say, when he dreamed such dreams, even though to most people, eating fish from the Chicago River would be a nightmare.

But the Daley clan's fish dreams have become a catastrophe for the people of Japan. This is an international incident. An emperor has been humbled. And now Chicago's emperor must pay.