Katrina

I am sick at heart today. As the sun rises on the devastation in the Gulf, I can sense the loss and heartache that pervades that place. I can feel civilization tumble back into the dark ages. There's help coming but one by one, the people point to places where there is only rubble and dirt and say to the cameras "This was my home."

Today has been declared a day of prayer. I propose that every day become a day of prayer. Every moment we all are held hostage to the forces of nature. There is nowhere in the United States that people are immune to the forces of the planet. The east is pounded by storms; earthquakes, fires, and volcanic activity can shake the west. No one is impervious to the forces that shape the face of this planet every day.

As the full impact of Katrina unravels, the cost to all Americans will become clear. Insurance will be impacted; the results of having an oil-based economy will become painfully apparent. Gas is expected to hit the $4.00 a gallon mark easily. In addition, the hurricane season ends in November. We have three more months of this.

It is important to understand that we don't live in a vacuum. We live in a global ecology. As we try to assert our version of reality on each other, Nature comes forward and makes our little arguments moot. There is nothing to do in the face of all this destruction, but to lift up our hands to God and give the future up to His grace. When we can, we need to give to organizations who are trying to do the best they can to give our fellow Americans the aid they need to simply survive.

I get paid tomorrow and will be giving something to the Red Cross then. If all you can afford is your prayers, we all know what a mighty thing that can be and please, light a candle for the people who have been impacted by this storm. The news will be showing film from the area for days to come. Sit with those people in your mind and heart and be with tem in their travail. Go stand outside wherever you live sometime today and thank God for your home, your family, neighbors, and friends. Thank God for your life.

A Katrina Red Cross donation page can be found here:
http://www.redcross.org/