The Burning of Joel | Teen Ink

The Burning of Joel

December 1, 2016
By J.A.Gurl BRONZE, Mocksville, North Carolina
J.A.Gurl BRONZE, Mocksville, North Carolina
4 articles 0 photos 0 comments

I had been placed, on the fires. As a journalist I was excited. As a sane human being… I was terrified. I was being rushed in a news van. It was cool and quiet in the van. The other boys were setting up the cameras and getting my mic ready. I was going into a burned part of Dollywood. I had been on live actions sets before, but never a scene this big. They had called me to do a big part. I was terrified. I had no idea what to expect.
“Ready Teylor?” I was being paged through the headset.
“Yes, who will I talk to?” I spoke a slight nervousness escaped.
“ Hubrett. He will have the supplies you will need going into the place. They have the fire put out so don’t worry.” Thomas said reassuringly.
“Thanks, I’ll Check in when I get there.”
“Okay, I'm out,” Thomas replied. 
I sat quietly in the back of the truck with my two cameramen Hosea, and Amos. They had been very reassuring. They had been with Missy, the best and most known reporter in Tennessee. I couldn’t believe I was taking her place. Everyone would be watching this. It’s not every day that a superstars amusement parks are burned by wildfires. I was terrified. This would be the biggest thing that ever happened to me. I was thanking the Lord for this opportunity. I had prayed for this opportunity, but this was his blessing. ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you Matthew 7:7’ this was just his blessing that I had asked for. I still was terrified.
“We’re here!” I heard come from the front of the van. Almost like it had been rehearsed I jumped out of the back of the van and Hosea and Amos had followed me closely behind.
“Ready set 1!” I shouted to the others setting up. Followed by the other numbers up to 5. Five different Camera crews had come to survey the damage to report to their news stations.
“We’re on in two!” Hosea shouted to me. I got myself ready and prepared to say the beginning line I had rehearsed in the studio.
“5… 4… 3… 2…”
“Hello, there Tennesee This is Temera Teylor here reporting live from Dolly Partons Dollywood Amusement Park. Today we have an exclusive insider on surveying the damage done and to help come recover what has been burned.”
Flawless I thought to myself as I turned toward the wall in front of me. We entered through a door and followed the hallway through the burned part of the building.
“The fire department has been here for almost a full 48 hours,” I explained into one of the cameras while the other got astonishing views of the burned place.
Throughout the stay, we had found old pieces of burned, smudged art, and many burned and broken pieces of various glasses and metals. I stayed long after we aired. We helped clean up what we could and try to find anything to salvage. As we were walking out, I sat something in the water of a burned park bench. I walked over to the puddle I had found on the ground. I looked at the thing in the water before picking it up slowly.
“It's a.., a piece of the bible. It’s from Joel.” I spoke softly to Hosea and Amos who were also curious.
“It says ‘O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness…” We sat struck for a moment before processing what I had just read.
“We gotta turn this in,” I spoke. Hosea and Amos went to grab my headset and a camera and quickly returned and started setting up. I spoke to the manager.
“We’d like to air this may we?” I said still kinda in shock at what I had just read.
“Please do. This is a true work of god.” The manager had said. I promised to give it to them as soon as I was done airing this piece.
“We can go on in two, you ready Teylor?”
“Yes, let’s hurry boys,” I spoke professionally. I felt professional.
“5… 4… 3… 2…”
“Hello, again It’s Temera Teylor back at the scene of the burning of Dollywood by these terrifying wildfires. We have just found a sign… a sign giving us hope for the future and a sign God is watching us. We have just recovered a piece of a burned waterlogged bible page. That's right a single page. From the book of Joel this verse reads ‘O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.’ God is watching us. Every one of us. Pray and everything will be okay. This is Temera Teylor, shooting for you live by WXYY9.”
“And… Done!” Shouted Amos.
“I feel so much better about this now…” I spoke gently. Hosea and Amos helped me into the back of the van and prayed as we went home. This wasn’t just a sign that God’s watching us, this was reassurance for everyone who needed it that God would be there. He showed us that he’s always here, by the burning of Joel.

 


The Truth.
On November 29th an employee found a burned soggy piece of paper under a park bench during the cleanup of the destruction. There are several verses from Joel that are readable.

 


Joel 1:15
The day of the LORD is near the day when destruction comes from the Almighty. How terrible that day will be!


Joel 1:19
To you, LORD, I call, for a fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.


Joel 1:20
Even the beasts of the field pant for you because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.


Joel 2:1
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand;


The author's comments:

Inspired by the recent events in Dollywood. 


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