“Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?”
I’ll tell you why I am so disturbed. My heart is sad this morning. As I have watched the devastation along the Gulf Coast I have grown increasingly unsettled. The damage is massive. The casualties will be high. The cost is incalculable. And if that were the worst of the situation, that would be bad enough. But then I hear about the continually deteriorating situation in New Orleans:
Residents are looting stores, not for necessities, but for shoes, watches, and weapons.
During an evacuation from the Super Dome someone fired gunshots at rescue helicopters.
There is general lawlessness and residents walking around armed and angry.
I can’t even put words on the situation. The impact is being felt across the country. But the impact is not what I expected. I expected sadness, frustration, anger, even inspiration to help. But most of what I hear is worry about gas prices. I walked into youth group last night and all the talk went something like this:
“Oh my gosh! Have you seen how much gas is?”
“Yea. Most of the gas stations are out of gas and won’t get anymore in until next week.”
“Oh my gosh! What are we going to do without gas?”
What are you going to do? Who cares what you are going to do? You at least have a car to put gas into. You have a home to drive that car home to. You aren’t using your gas to try and find missing loved ones. I get so pissed at our selfishness. We dismiss this catastrophe with an, “Oh, it’s so terrible,” and then immediately put the focus back on ourselves. It is too much to even write about.
My prayer for this situation comes from the Psalms:
“Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.”
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3 comments:
I think it's both: my parade and yours.
With looting growing intense, it is a concern, but what surprised me is how people in other parts of the country were willing to do something practical -- or what Regan would call a practical Christianity -- to help their neighbor.
One thing I have been doing is trying to pray for the individuals that are interviewed in the TV, radio and print coverage I've seen. This keeps it all from becoming some morose form of entertainment.
I've also done what Shannon said. They need prayer. I can't imagine it.
I also understand your frustration. When I heard the story this morning about the shooters and the rescue helicopter, I felt saddened.
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