RBWords - Volume 20 - Number 8: August 2007
Something to Think About
- The second anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina disaster is commanding a lot of attention in the media and has given me something to think about. The presence of the Eucharistic Missionaries of St. Dominic who moved from New Orleans here to St. Catharine since that time continually reminds me to keep in prayer all those who suffered loss of life and property. But the “celebration” of the anniversary raises a lot of memories and issues that continue to provoke thought. I have visited New Orleans four or five times and the Mississippi Gulf Coast once since August 2005. The pace of recovery has certainly not met the expectations of those who are attempting to rebuild lives and homes. There is more than enough physical evidence to justify their concerns. There is also more than enough personal/psychological evidence as well. It is difficult to hold a conversation in those two areas that doesn\'t sooner or later come around to the hurricane and its impact. It has had an impact on me personally since I have known New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast since my childhood and I (like all those who have similar memories) know that the way of life that existed pre-Katrina is gone forever. The casinos are back in business on the coast, but the way of life is gone. The tourists have returned to the French Quarter and my friends to their homes in relatively unflooded areas in Uptown, but the way of life is gone. The healing process may be slowly proceeding, but any thought of duplicating what has been lost is futile. One would hope that in the case of New Orleans the terrifying crime rate and corrupt political life could be a thing of the past, but it appears that there are some things that even a hurricane cannot destroy! Life will go on in New Orleans and on the Gulf Coast but it will be a new life, conditioned by fear of another storm. (Unlike folks in California who live with earthquakes, hurricanes give a lot of warning and happen more often in certain areas!)
One of the additional problems is what might be called “Karina-fatigue!” The rest of the nation can get tired of hearing about the problems “down there,” and develop a “get over it” response. There are those who simply don\'t think New Orleans should be rebuilt! The natural geographic problems are very well known now and folks are wondering why tempt fate again. Those who suffered from Hurricane Rita in that same fateful season are asking why their lives and property are getting less attention than those of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The list of reactions and frustrations goes on and on. Other events command the ever fickle attention of the national media and Washington politicians. I continue to pray for the healing so many need and a future less vulnerable to hurricanes. IT\'S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
It Has Been Said
“Graced experience enables and flows from a transcendental presence of God; it does not reject human language and the layers of an individual\'s psychological life but bubbles up through them to influence daily life. Human words and actions always stand as servants of a deeper presence, aware of their limitations. Experience has its own dialectic, moving from my experience to the experience of God more as a presence than an object.”
from Thomas F. O\'Meara, O.P. -GOD IN THE WORD: A Guide to Karl Rahner\'s Theology
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