Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex

Even I, being in the middle of unpacking, getting new car registrations, driver’s licenses, etc., have not been able to escape the human drama unfolding in the South East of the U.S. in the aftermath of Katrina. While it is a fool’s game to try to assess the meaning of such an event or predict the outcome while still so close, there are some important questions that still can be asked. One important question I have heard is what will this event do to us as a nation? Will it make us more selfless and more community oriented as was seen in the Great Depression or will it tear us apart and drive us into an economic meltdown because people refuse to live more moderately with the greatly reduced availability of resources which many economists are now predicting (due especially to the impending shortage of petroleum- this was in fact one economic doomsday scenario analyzed recently).

These tragedies bring out the best and worst in us. Many tend to respond in accord with the way God created us—that is by giving to others in need without any concern for themselves. Because we are fallen, others who have nurtured a radical disordered selfishness in their lives take advantage of people while they are down and look only after their own needs and desires. There is no way of knowing how the preponderance of people will respond; however, the initial indications are very hopeful. The proof of the pudding will be when the need for sacrifices to our standard of living arrive, if it does. We have become a society with little patience. I remember talking to my father-in-law about the differences between his generation and mine. He served in the Pacific in WWII and was on the ground in Nagasaki a couple of weeks after “the bomb.” We both agreed that we did not think that society today had the discipline or the patience to deal with the long term sacrifices required of that greatest generation. I hope that we were both wrong.

Now, all those who can respond with action and/or donations I hope will. For those who cannot, prayer is as much a needed commodity as material action. Pray for the souls of those lost. Pray for the protection and relief of those directly affected. Pray for the safety of those responding and the wisdom of those directing the response. But also, pray for us as a nation; that we have the selflessness, patience, and fortitude necessary to respond to this cataclysm in accord with the manner that God has created us.