A Week of Confusion

Well, almost a week has passed since the devastating tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. Unless you have been keeping residence in your own personal cave, you have witnessed the shocking videos and images of the destruction that has, and is still taking place. “How did this happen?” and “Could it have been prevented?” have all run through our minds as of late.

I must admit, this catastrophe has been somewhat of a paradox for me. Every night as I get a glimpse of the ruin that used to be New Orleans, I am overcome with grief and sorrow for the faces that embrace my television—the one being relocated from one shelter to the next, the one laying on the side of the road beside their departed spouse, the face of an 8 year old child clinging to her mother’s side scared and bewildered with no comprehension of how severe the situation actually is. My heart breaks.

However, I, too, sit in bewilderment. Here is an entire city that has grown and has been developed, not only around water, but actually on the soggy marshes of the bayou, located on the Gulf of Mexico—a gulf known for attracting tropical storms and nurturing them to hurricane status. With their location, coupled with their “lack” of elevation, were the people prepared for what might happen? Or was their mentality much like ours in everyday life, “It won’t happen to us. Those things only happen to other people.”

I can’t help but think, “You had to have known this could happen. At any given moment, your house and all your belongings, could be sitting under 10 feet of water.” It’s only logical. When you hear about the “bowl effect” of New Orleans, you realize it is an obvious threat to the way of life of those who live there.

My wife and I used to live in the high Rocky Mountains of Colorado. We have seen a multitude of homes built literally feet away from the edges of cliffs which, in an instant, could crumble into nothing. Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas possess the New Madrid Fault which could shift and destroy thousands of homes. California has the San Andreas Fault. Texas, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma have “Tornado Alley.” Washington even sits on active Mt. St. Helens. All who live in areas such as these, have to understand, accept, and especially prepare for what could and probably will happen eventually. Don’t they?

And so I sit, mourning the loss that has overtaken us—the loss of spirit, belongings, and life; and yet I am so appreciative for what I have been blessed with. Then there are the muddled up emotions of confusions of how this could have happened and how it caught them so off guard. I sit in awe.

Times like these truly bring out the truths of God’s Word. Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” No matter what we may “have,” it is only ours for a moment. The only thing God blesses us with that is eternal is the word of God—which is life in His Son, Jesus Christ.

To all those who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina, you are in our prayers.