Originally published at The Catholic Thing
“Among mortals, second thoughts are wiser,” wrote Euripides famously. Our first thought when someone suffers a loss should simply be condolence; followed by silence and a prayer. But then inevitably we arrive at second thoughts: “He didn’t follow his doctor’s advice. What did he expect?” “Looking at the phone while driving.” “Yet another casualty of psychedelic drugs.” And so on.
Like everyone else, I am aghast at the loss of lives and homes in the Los Angeles fires, and I pray. But I offer some second thoughts.
First, I consider that the Getty Museum provides a standard, for how prudent persons with custody of valuables should act. They value their collection; they are aware that the city government cannot be relied upon to protect it, given periodic fires fanned by the Santa Anna winds. Therefore, they have cleared their grounds of brush, installed a sprinkler system, planted water-absorbing trees all around, made their roof out of fire-resistant crushed rock, and they keep on hand a team of over 30 employees, as an ad hoc private fire-fighting team.
Presumably, if they were unable to take such precautions, they would feel compelled to move their collection. Knowing what they do, if they
