Why

When I was a very small child, my grandmother explained that it thundered when God was mad, and lightened when he was really mad. “The thunder,” she explained, “is sort of like your mother screaming at you because you have done something wrong. The lightning starts out a little flicker or warning – You better get your act together! When you don’t listen, lightning bolts come after you!”
A few years later, when Larry, my friend, was struck by lightning and killed, I was upset that he didn’t listen. He was outside on the basketball court playing basketball. I know there was thunder – the first warning. Then there had to be the flicker of lightning – another warning. Finally, the lightning bolt struck, and Larry was gone.
Not long after that, Tyler , my fourteen year old cousin, was on a boat in a lake near Miami beach. He and three other boys were told not to go out on the water, but they did anyway. You know how we all feel – like some old person doesn’t want us to have any fun so what they don’t know won’t hurt them! Well, Tyler, and his friends were in for a rude awakening. After they got out on the lake fishing, the storm blew in pretty quick before they could have a chance to paddle back to the dock. First the warning thunder, then the warning flicker, finally a full fledged bolt. Tyler was down in the boat never to get up again. The other two kids had to row the boat back to shore with a lifeless body next to them. Both boys were crying deep sobs of terror when the rescue worker got to them. They had somehow managed to bring the boat in, but had no idea what to do about Tyler. Resuscitation measures were taken, but Tyler was already gone. Why didn’t they listen? Why was God so mad that he took the life of one teenager, and horrifically changed the life of two more?