a short note on Katrina
Two posts in one day! How about that!
I pretty much ranted awhile back in a comment regarding the political nature of how things are done in this country. Everyone is so focused on money and power and reputation. No one seems to be focused on the people except as political weapons in their party’s arsenal.
I still feel the same way I felt in that comment. I think I called the FEMA director Mark Brown instead of Michael Brown, but the feelings are still the same. Likely as not, he is incompetent and deserves to be fired (or to resign in lieu of...). I’m sure more heads need to roll. But, please, someone address the problems that caused this tragedy to be worse than it had to be.
The political hay that is being made of this somehow loses sight of who this tragedy is really about and how we are going to address it in the long-term.
More importantly, how are the people of God, the apprentices of Jesus, and all those of similar attitude, going to address the global crisis of the poor, the elderly, the sick and otherwise disenfranchised?
More on this in a future post, but for now just a reflection from when I was finishing my shower this morning. I was reflecting on how nice it would be to have a softer towel. You know, the big fluffy ones. Sometimes I get them in hotels. Sometimes when I stay with friends I get them. Anyway, as I was reflecting on this, a thought occurred to me. It seemed utterly ridiculous to be giving thought to soft towels when so many people are going hungry, dying of AIDS, enslaved in the sex trade, poor and homeless.... Somehow or other, I couldn’t imagine Jesus longing for soft towels in this moment.
Something to think about....
Grace and peace,
Owen
I pretty much ranted awhile back in a comment regarding the political nature of how things are done in this country. Everyone is so focused on money and power and reputation. No one seems to be focused on the people except as political weapons in their party’s arsenal.
I still feel the same way I felt in that comment. I think I called the FEMA director Mark Brown instead of Michael Brown, but the feelings are still the same. Likely as not, he is incompetent and deserves to be fired (or to resign in lieu of...). I’m sure more heads need to roll. But, please, someone address the problems that caused this tragedy to be worse than it had to be.
The political hay that is being made of this somehow loses sight of who this tragedy is really about and how we are going to address it in the long-term.
More importantly, how are the people of God, the apprentices of Jesus, and all those of similar attitude, going to address the global crisis of the poor, the elderly, the sick and otherwise disenfranchised?
More on this in a future post, but for now just a reflection from when I was finishing my shower this morning. I was reflecting on how nice it would be to have a softer towel. You know, the big fluffy ones. Sometimes I get them in hotels. Sometimes when I stay with friends I get them. Anyway, as I was reflecting on this, a thought occurred to me. It seemed utterly ridiculous to be giving thought to soft towels when so many people are going hungry, dying of AIDS, enslaved in the sex trade, poor and homeless.... Somehow or other, I couldn’t imagine Jesus longing for soft towels in this moment.
Something to think about....
Grace and peace,
Owen
posted by Owen B. | 12:50 PM
2 Comments:
More than any other, the following words from the current issue of Newsweek (Sept. 19) give me insight into what God might be doing: "It takes a hurricane. It takes a catastrophe like Katrina to strip away the old evasions, hypocrisies and not-so-benign neglect. It takes the sight of the United States with a big black eye—visible around the world—to help the rest of us begin to see again. For the moment, at least, Americans are ready to fix their restless gaze on enduring problems of poverty, race and class that have escaped their attention. Does this mean a new war on poverty? No, especially with Katrina's gargantuan price tag. But this disaster may offer a chance to start a skirmish, or at least make Washington think harder about why part of the richest country on earth looks like the Third World."
What do you think?
Marshall,
Yes, yes. I think you are right. And more than opening the eyes of our country, opening the eyes of God's people in it as to what they've let this place degenerate into, for less than honorable motives.
Owen
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