Questions for Katrina
Questions that haunt us as much as the devastation this deadly hurricane left behind.
Dear Katrina,
You have come and gone, but your ferocity haunts us still. With widespread destruction. With hopeless abandonment. With desperate cries. With savage violence. With the cloud of discord. With homeless victims, dead victims, sick and wounded victims, and a nation victimized by its own false sense of security and lack of preparedness.
How evil you are!! We can endure, if we must, the wicked poison of terrorism that intoxicates people with enough hate to harm innocent victims. Because we understand the deep rooted selfishness of the human heart. But who do you think you are to wreak such havoc on us with no apparent cause?! No battle cry for some kind of twisted justice. No political message delivered in the form of bombs and blood. No crusade against other cultures threatening your own. Just pointless fury and rage. So, what is the point? Who are you, where did you come from, and why did you do choose to visit such a location at such a time in such a way?
Is there some kind of sick justice you are carrying out on the region of the gulf coast? Did God send you, and if he did, how are we supposed to believe that he is as loving as he claims? What kind of hope can we ever offer to those whose lives you have ruined (because if there is some good that comes out of this we can’t believe it will ever outweigh the bad)?
For now, we’re doing our best to recover but as we do so we have questions and we want them answered. For these questions haunt us as much as the devastation you have left behind.
Waiting for your reply,
Curiously Concerned
Well, who would have ever guessed that the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11 would be out-headlined in the news by something even more terrible. But here we are reeling in agony from this double shot of tragedy. And, man, do we have questions. And rightly we should.
Therefore, given the magnitude of these events the Grace MEMO e-mail devotions will develop a theme in this month of September that addresses such questions related to violence, evil, weather, terror, peace, security, and recovery. The hope and prayer, of course, is that we can ultimately rest our minds and hearts in the concerned hands of a God who tells us more about himself than we can ever understand. That’s why the Bible refers to him as “Father” and us as “children.” During any disaster, that’s a wonderful place to start.
That doesn’t mean it’s wrong or sinful to seek answers and explore the untraceable paths of a boundless God, which is what we’ll be doing. It only means we do so from the perspective of people who have faith that opens our ears to listen and our hearts to believe, no matter how much our imperfect human nature might conclude otherwise.
So, yes, there are answers to these questions. Answers that not only respond but also inspire. Answers that not only lead us to say, “Okay,” but also to say, “Wow, I never thought of my God that way before!”
Let this serve as the introduction to a series dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the terrorist attacks of September 11, and all who remain curiously concerned.
PRAYER: O God, please strengthen and uphold all those who are working to save lives, restore order and bring aid to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Come with comfort to those who have lost loved ones. Show us how we should help. Bless us with faith and courage to listen to your Word and put it into action. Amen.