Due to deadlines,
I write this column while it is still August, and more importantly while the
terrible images of the devastation of Hurricane Harvey are still fresh in my
mind. While the rain has finally ceased in Houston, rescues continue, refugees
still huddle in makeshift shelters, and the sad work of tolling up the
destruction and the cost in lives, trauma and dollars has yet even to begin.
How to react to
such an exceptional, unprecedented disaster? First of all, our hearts and
prayers go out to all along the Gulf Coast and in the City of Houston and the
surrounding areas, who lost so much: loved ones, their homes and pets, their
places of business and their schools, their churches, communities, and their
livelihoods. We pray that they may not lose hope.
We know that the suffering
will continue for some time and that rebuilding will be arduous and long. All
of us must help to the extent that we can: by our donations, our expertise,
sometimes our labor, and certainly our prayers. This disaster affects us all.
Beyond that, taking
a longer view, this disaster confronts us with our own limitations as human
beings. While we have phenomenal accomplishments, we are not masters of our
environment and our own lives. It is all still gift.
Since I came here
to Austin seven years ago, most of the time we have been facing unprecedented
drought. For four long, dry years, we have watched the creeks dry up, then the
rivers. We saw the fields turn brown and all the landscape wither and burn. We
prayed for relief in the form of rain. And finally the rains came and the
drought ended.
Now we have
Hurricane Harvey and way too much rain. We have either too little or way too
much, demonstrating conclusively and unavoidably how little control we actually
have. We are totally dependent on, and at the mercy of, the weather.
Out of this
experience, I hope we learn a little more humility. We depend on the caprice of
the weather for either too little water, or too much water, or just the right
amount.
Out of this
experience, I hope we learn a little more respect for the environment. Global
warming makes the storms we suffer worse. Paving over more and more ground
makes the run off of storms more destructive. We must live in harmony with the
environment, for we are not in control.
Out of this
experience, I hope we will come to a greater sense of solidarity and of how
much we really depend on each other. So many of the rescues during the storm
were accomplished by strangers. People who put their effort, time and even
their lives on the line for people they had never met and did not know. People
who responded simply because other people needed them.
Water is one of
the most wonderful of creations. We ourselves are largely water. We need water
to live. Too little or too much threatens our very lives. And by the waters of
Baptism, we are reborn to new life as the children of God.
Let us be grateful to God for the gift
of water. Let us pray for the water we need. And let us learn to help those who
suffer from too much or too little of this most precious gift.
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