RBWords - Volume 19 - Number 8: August 2006
Something to Think About
Late August and early September are now times to remember disasters. Those who continue to cope with the aftermaths of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and those who continue to grieve the 9/11 terrorist attacks gather to commemorate these events and to comfort one another, even as they trade their \"stories\" and learn from one another. We here at St. Catharine are about an hour from the plane crash site at Lexington, KY. There was someone at Sunday Mass here last Sunday morning who had a personal acquaintance on that plane.
No matter how sudden the event or how well we think we are prepared for it, some events by their sheer scope and impact leave us in shock and trauma. It can take years or a lifetime to cope with the effects. There is the personal level of the loss of loved ones or one\'s home and belongings. On another level there is the loss of an entire way of life (New Orleans and the Gulf Coast will never be the same). There is the fear of a repetition (terrorism and storms). There is the uncertainty of a new life in new surroundings. I can see all these at work in the Eucharistic Missionaries of St. Dominic who moved here in the wake of Katrina! Their faith and stamina are inspiring.
It is normal for a person to try and find some way to give meaning to all of this so that it doesn\'t continue to overwhelm. The very unhelpful declarations of certain preachers about God punishing populations with these events are a distinct scandal to Christianity. On the contrary, God walks amidst the personal and material losses and weeps with all of us in our sorrow. Facing the uncertain future will remain a challenge to our faith, to our hope and to our capacity to love. These events belong not just to those immediately hurt, but to all of us as their brothers and sisters. IT\'S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!
It Has Been Said
Often when we wish to comfort people, we say: \"Well, it is sad this has happened to you, but try to make the best of it.\" But \"making the best of it\" is not what drinking the cup is about. Drinking our cup is not simply adapting ourselves to a bad situation and trying to use it as well as we can. Drinking our cup is a hopeful, courageous, and self-confident way of living. It is standing in the world with head eerect, solidly rooted in the knowledge of who we are, facing the reality that surrounds us and responding to it from our hearts.
from CAN YOU DRINK THE CUP by Henri J.M.Nouwen.