in the wake of the storm
There's some "Sweet Honey in the Rock" song that says something like "we hope things won't change, and then in a twinkling of an eye, they do" (that's obviously not the lyrically correct wording, but you get the picture). And while I was pondering those lines, voila! Things changed in a twinkling of my eyes.
But what I really want to write about is this:
Hurricane Katrina was a monstrous physical storm (yes, we all know that, although it's easy to forget about it since lots of other tragic things riddle the news each day and we are physically removed from the Gulf Coast). And over the past few months, I've listened to stories about the devastation that happened there and the debris that is still being cleaned up. And the emotional impact of the losses that occurred and are still occurring.
And I can't help but think that we all have our own small and large scale storms and they aren't going to stop coming no matter what we try to build to stop them. But in many of the stories I've heard, those on the Gulf Coast also have a hope and faith that something new and maybe even better will be born.
So I wonder. . .what lessons from the response to Hurricane Katrina can we learn and apply to our own storms?
One sentence really stuck out in regards to Louisiana - - after the storm the state has been open to new and different solutions to reinvent government and schools - "a healthy shift toward accountability in a state known for corruption" was the quote. So that got me wondering if our own storms occur because there's something God's calling us to pay attention to, to examine, to reinvent and to find creative solutions to so that we can move out of the stormy places and be new. And be better. And be more of the person who God wants us to be. I'm liking that idea. A lot.
*** It is Thursday and I am going to "empty bowls" tonight which slightly reminded me of "big bowl" a place EmM, Jeanine and I went to for every meal when we went to visit Gennie in Chicago. I'm hoping for a staffing miracle to occur in less than 24 hours. Like six more people would be great. Really great.
But what I really want to write about is this:
Hurricane Katrina was a monstrous physical storm (yes, we all know that, although it's easy to forget about it since lots of other tragic things riddle the news each day and we are physically removed from the Gulf Coast). And over the past few months, I've listened to stories about the devastation that happened there and the debris that is still being cleaned up. And the emotional impact of the losses that occurred and are still occurring.
And I can't help but think that we all have our own small and large scale storms and they aren't going to stop coming no matter what we try to build to stop them. But in many of the stories I've heard, those on the Gulf Coast also have a hope and faith that something new and maybe even better will be born.
So I wonder. . .what lessons from the response to Hurricane Katrina can we learn and apply to our own storms?
One sentence really stuck out in regards to Louisiana - - after the storm the state has been open to new and different solutions to reinvent government and schools - "a healthy shift toward accountability in a state known for corruption" was the quote. So that got me wondering if our own storms occur because there's something God's calling us to pay attention to, to examine, to reinvent and to find creative solutions to so that we can move out of the stormy places and be new. And be better. And be more of the person who God wants us to be. I'm liking that idea. A lot.
*** It is Thursday and I am going to "empty bowls" tonight which slightly reminded me of "big bowl" a place EmM, Jeanine and I went to for every meal when we went to visit Gennie in Chicago. I'm hoping for a staffing miracle to occur in less than 24 hours. Like six more people would be great. Really great.