Clairity's Place on Katrina

Sharon Mollerus ofClairity's Place offers an inspiring reflection on Katrina and the aftermath. Her perspective balances the humbling power of the hurricane with the inadequate (notice I spelled it correctly tonight?) responses of NOLA and federal leadership. All without mouth-foaming or sugar coating, of course. More significantly, she touches on the fundamental reality Katrina reveals: our fundamental reality as contingent creations of a loving God that live in a fallen world. Notes. Ms. Mollerus:

And for all this human incapacity shown up in this catastrophe, we are especially humbled. We expect to be able to manage at least food and water, some kind of housing and minimal police protection, at least in the U.S. The fact that the poor were the ones who were unable to get out of town should not be lost on us. Many had little to start with before they lost the little they had, also humbling if we care to notice.

If we're real, we know that it's our own skin on the line, which makes us pause finally. A tragedy of this dimension reminds us of a very sober truth. Christ put it very simply to his disciples:

There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus?
I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.
Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Silo'am fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem?
I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:1-5)

The humility (from the Latin humus, earth) of our human limits is a reminder of our true destiny. This body will only withstand so much, for so many years, depending on our good fortune or the lack of it. In the end, we can't help but want more, for ourselves and those we love, and even for those we don't know but recognize are part of our human family. But more has been promised. Simply, we will all perish, without receiving the life Christ offers to each one of us.

My ultimate concerns with the failure of leadership at the federal, state and local levels of government is that their failure has compromised mercy. The survivors of Katrina need mercy in specific and urgent ways. The incomprehensibly disorganized response to their plight by the authorities has robbed them of these necessities. We're all diminished when those of us most in need don't receive the help they require. We may walk far too many miles in their shoes than we'd ever want to some day.

We're all family in the sight of the Lord. We are, first of all, his creation, those whom he called "good." For those of us that are Christians, we are his own sons through the blood of his Son. Family stays together and helps each other through it all. How can we bare to look each other in the eye if, when one of us is down, we don't do what it takes?

Thank God for those of us that showed mercy to our brothers and sisters most in need of it. May their example inspire us all.