My Burning Bush

It was pitch black when I woke up this morning. I dragged myself out of bed to let the dog out, glancing at my clock before I opened the door: 6:48. The house was dark and quiet, but I saw light in the entryway. Halfway down the stairs to see who else was awake, my mom's urgent voice beckoned me.

Mom stood in the entryway, fully dressed and peering out the front door. Her hand quickly urged me to look with her. The grey-haired lady moved quickly aside as she pointed.

"Do you think that is fire?"

My pace down the remaining stairs quickened. It took all of about 3 seconds for my nose to be pressed against the glass of the front door. Across the street, amidst trees in the neighbor's yard, there was a bright yellow glow. It was kind of lower to the ground and kind of looked like someone was burning brush. The only thing is that it was early in the morning. Nobody gets up early in the morning during winter to burn brush. In fact, nobody burns brush outside in the snow at all. We all keep our fires pretty much inside during subfreezing weather.

As I watched the glow, it seemed to flicker and move but it did not spread. It was a curious phenonmenon.

"It's too bad we don't have the neighbor's phone number," I said.

"Even if we did, it's too early to call over," Mom disclaimed.

My nose still pressed to glass, I suggested, "I think I would go over there to check it out and then knock on their door if it really is fire."

Mom must have thought my idea was good because she went straight away to don her boots and coat, then walked out the door. It was about half a minute before I saw her walking down the street to look through the trees. I watched for a sign from her to see if I should call the fire department, but she gave none. She just walked to where she could look at the glow, then walked back.

I am reminded of the story of Moses and the burning bush. The bush burned but the fire did not comsume the bush and it did not spread. I wonder how long Moses watched those flames before he decided to investigate? Now with Moses, we know the flames were real and prevented from spreading or burning by the power of God. With this morning's situation, it turns out that there was a different reason the flames were not burning or spreading through the trees.

Mom came back inside unhurried. She unzipped her coat, quietly taking it off.

"Well?" I prodded. "What is it?"

"The neighbor behind them has their flagpole all lit up. The flickering we saw is from the flag blowing in the wind."

And so is my story of the burning brush.