There was a massive fire in Bella Bella BC this week. You probably didn’t hear about it. Bella Bella is on the BC coast. It’s a first Nations community. Located in the territory of the Heiltsuk Nation, Bella Bella is an important town and service centre. I know of Bella Bella because it is the home of a United Church of Canada hospital (yes, the United Church runs several small, remote hospitals). Bella Bella was part of a historic ministry of the United Church.

What happened in Bella Bella last week was, for that community a deep tragedy. The town’s only grocery store and the post office burned to the ground. A wooden structure, once the fire got going it was almost impossible to stop.

Food supples for the community are being barged in and a temporary store is being set up in the United Church hall.

When I first heard of the story, I also heard in social media a call for immediate assistance. "We have to do something!" someone said.

Then a colleague of mine, who has served in communities in that part of BC said something quite remarkable.

"Wait," he said. " Wait. The community is incredibly resourceful. If we throw money and resources in now, we risk giving deep offense. Listen first. Then act."

I found myself feeling the same way in the Calgary floods and the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster. Somehow I wanted to "do" something; help somebody.

Then I realized that what I was feeling was a reflection of my own powerlessness in the face of disaster. In the face of such raw power, which destroyed homes and lives, I wanted to express my own power. Nature would not win.

Then I read the weekly blog of United Church Moderator the Rt. Rev. Gary Paterson. He found himself helpless in the face of disaster. Then he realized that doing something wasn’t always necessary. " Sometimes," he said, "we can only stand silent in the face of such pain and sadness."

When we stand in silence, it does not mean we are doing nothing. Standing in silence means we become more attentive to listing than to speaking; to be waiting instead of mindlessly acting.

Twenty years ago, during one of the devastating Florida hurricanes, colleagues in that state were telling me by e-mail that piles of donated goods were sitting on pallets, ruined in the sun and rain. Sent by well-meaning people, they became additions to overloaded land fills.

So what do we do in the face of such tragedy. How do we respond?

In practical terms, we can send money to reputable charities. The Canadian Red Cross, the Salvation Army and others have an excellent track record in Canadian disasters. We can support their work.

For people of faith, there is another response, even before giving.

Pray.

And I turn again to Moderator Paterson’s blog:

"...over the week I have discovered once again that it helps to pray…as a way of being vulnerable myself to the tragedy of what has happened; to become open to the ache, the tears, the bewilderment, the anger, the horror. I can choose through prayer to be connected with the people of Lac-Mégantic, to carry with them, in some very small way, the grief they are experiencing; to be in solidarity with their pain. I can choose not to avoid, and move on to the next news story, but rather, to remember, to feel; to keep praying…not asking for God to "do" anything – but rather, simply to lift the people of this town into the heart of the Holy."

We are not well-conditioned to prayer. We would rather see quick results that fit the 24 hour news cycle. But in the face of disaster, what options do we have?

I know that none of this is easy. And we would really rather "do" something. But perhaps we need to stop and listen first, and then do. And that doing may may not be sending "stuff". It may be to begin to pray; to lift those affected by disaster up to God. And in the face of tragedy we find that God is still there and nothing can separate us from the love of God. Not flood, not fire, not a rail disaster.

Rev. David Shearman is the minister of Central Westside United Church, Owen Sound and the host of Faithworks on Rogers TV - Grey County, Cable 53. I will not be writing for the next four weeks, as I am on vacation. I will resume on August 26.