Ain't no Reason

This was put up on YouTube by a guy that runs a homeless shelter in Lubbock. Thanks to Jen's dad for sharing it with me!

Justice matters......

OK - time to get my focus off me, and get my head back in the game. Tomorrow night I have decided to go to to the ART*MUSIC*JUSTICE TOUR concert here in town.

"The tour is a unique concert opportunity to “add to the beauty, seek justice and give God praise,” desiring to further educate the church on God's heart for justice, gain advocates for the oppressed, and show evidence of a God at work in this world."

I am excited to go and hear the stories these artists have to tell, "stories of God's people in action and their heroic experiences across the globe", including "Incredible stories of rescue from the International Justice Mission."

Plus, I would pretty much go anywhere to hear Derek Webb, even if it's just a couple songs.... :)

I want to get back to being challenged, to having a heart for the poor and oppressed and to remember why justice matters. I want to see with Christ's eyes and feel with his heart. I want the passion to re-ignite.

I want to relax, listen to the music, recenter my heart and leave changed. It probably won't be a feel good night, but that's ok. Maybe a good thing.

Everyone I know is busy tomorrow night. Even my daughter. Because it matters so much I decided to just go by myself. Today my friend told me she and her husband can go and would meet me there. Nice.

As Sara says: "God is mighty to save and is actively rescuing the oppressed through His people,” ...“ Scripture references to the 'slave, the poor, the oppressed' are not figurative. There are 27 million people enslaved today, after more than in 400 years of trans-Atlantic slavery. God is calling us to respond. All of us on this tour want to convey, it is not a burden to help, it is an adventure. We’re excited to get out there and share what God is doing!"

Give me your eyes for just one second,
Give me your eyes so I can see,
Everything that I keep missing,
Give me your love for humanity.
Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.

Brandon Heath

Just what is Tithing anyway?

So now I have a new debate whirling in my brain. Tithing. what it is, what is isn't, what it really means, is it mandatory, do we have it wrong, does our way of doing church dictate tithing, do small communities have a better, healthier view of tithing?
Is it stewardship instead of tithing? Is tithing a small part of a much larger thing? Is tithing misused by the church?
Is giving to God a much, much larger thing encompassing compassion, justice issues, helping your neighbor, your community, your friend, being able to assist monetarily when needed, buy food for people, clothes for people, have a party for people?
Wow, this is a huge issue. One I never spent a lot of time thinking about before....
But now in light of so many changes in my life and way of thinking, I am obviously bugged by this and starting to rethink the whole thing.
Where is our heart in this? Do we tithe merely to have a tax write off?
Do we tithe because we've been taught if we do, God will bless us and we will be financially secure?
Is the tithe a bludgeon to keep us in line, a measuring stick of how good of a Christian we are?
Is the tithe just used to sustain the church and pay the pastor?
Or should we be doing this in a different way?
Some say in the age of grace tithing is not necessary. I think that is a cop out. But I'm still not sure where I stand on the spectrum.
Aaargh. Just what I need. A confusing issue to wrestle with over break.
And yes, a couple years ago I would never have even had these questions, much less engage and struggle with them. LOL.
Life is never boring......

Are you daydreaming when you should be working?

There is a song with a very catchy tune getting a lot of airplay these days. On the surface I found myself humming along - until I really listened to the words. And then, well - I don't agree with the song. But a lot of people aren't going to think about what they are hearing/singing along with, and the song is just gonna keep on rolling. When I was looking for the lyrics so I could post them, I found this comment with a question:

An awesome song that’s been ministering to me lately is What Could Be Better, by 33 Miles. Am I the only one who’s noticed a lack of songs written about looking forward to Heaven?

I’ve heard it said today
Is all we’re given
Tomorrow may not come
So you better start living
I guess it all depends
On your point of view
Pardon me if I
Just don’t listen
To everything the world
Says I’m missing
There’s nothing here and now
I’m gonna hold on to

I’m living in the days ahead
I’m already dancing on the streets of gold
Can’t stop celebrating in my soul
I’m living in the days ahead
Nothing on earth could ever compare
Can’t wait for the day when I get there
When I see Jesus face to face
Tell me what could be better
Tell me what could be better

If home is where the heart
Is then I’m in Heaven
It’s the promise of tomorrow
That I’ve been given
Who is waiting there I am living for
He’s everything I love
And I believe in
And I can hardly wait
Just to see Him
And hear Him say well done
I couldn’t ask for more

I’m living in the days ahead
I’m already dancing on the streets of gold
Can’t stop celebrating in my soul
I’m living in the days ahead
Nothing on earth could ever compare
Can’t wait for the day when I get there
When I see Jesus face to face
Tell me what could be better
Tell me what could be better
Life is full of ups and downs
Inside outs, round and rounds
Can’t blame me for dreaming about it

I’m living in the days ahead
I’m already dancing on the streets of gold
Can’t stop celebrating in my soul
I’m living in the days ahead
Nothing on earth could ever compare
Can’t wait for the day when I get there
When I see Jesus face to face
Tell me what could be better
Tell me what could be better

People! Do you ever think about the message of the song(s) you are propagating???
Maybe you do, maybe the way I think is totally different than the way you think. Even if your philosophy of the end times is different than mine, still to subscribe to the words of this song is totally missing the point of being a Christian. I'm not saying we shouldn't be excited about the future, or that we shouldn't long to see Jesus. But we have to stop being, as the cliché says, "too heavenly minded to be any earthly good."

Why are you a believer? To save yourselves from hell, and get into heaven? Is your belief simply an insurance policy?? What are you living for? The future? As in, "This world is not my home, I'm just a passin' through"? Don't you think that being a Christian, a true follower of Christ is much deeper than that?? Way too many Christians go to church every Sunday to do their duty, or even just to be seen so others will not think badly of them, and then rarely think about God things the rest of the week.

He’s everything I love
And I believe in
And I can hardly wait
Just to see Him
And hear Him say well done
I couldn’t ask for more

But He can! If he is everything we love and believe in shouldn't we be living in His way, following his example, doing His work??
The point of our salvation is to join in the work of God as he reconciles the world to himself. We are blessed to be a blessing. We are to be about God's business. Loving, helping, fighting injustice.
If we spend all our time thinking and dreaming of the days ahead, what happens here and now? What about the fact that Jesus spent his time feeding the poor, healing the sick, eating with sinners, loving the children, challenging authority, teaching those who wanted to be like him?
What do we do? Sit in church and sing about heaven!
To hold to this future theology means to give up on the world. To give up on the people God so desperately loves. It means that we are selfishly saying," it's all going to just be destroyed anyway, why should I even consider working to make this world a better place?" It's defeatist, fatalistic thinking. Are we just resigned to the fact that there is nothing left in the world that is worth redeeming?
How does that help the hungry, or clothe someone who is cold?
If we are truly committed followers of Christ, if we are truly accepting him as Lord, and King, and Ruler - shouldn't we be following his plan? His way of living?
Instead of preaching we need to live our faith.
Instead of going to church, we need to be the church.
Instead of dreaming of heaven, instead of not being able to wait to get out of here, we need to work to make it a better place for all those God loves - and loves equally.
Instead of blame we need love.
Instead of finger pointing, we need teamwork.

In answer to the question of the above song's title "What Could be Better?" I leave the words of John Waller's song The Blessing:

The Blessing

Let it be said of us while we walked among the living
Let it be said of us by the ones we leave behind
Let it be said of us that we lived to be a blessing for life

And let it be said of us that we gave to reach the dying
Let it be said of us by the fruit we leave behind
Let it be said of us that our legacy is blessing for life

This day, You set life, You set death right before us
This day, every blessing and curse is a choice now
And we will choose to be a blessing for life

Let it be said of us that our hearts belong to Jesus
Let it be said of us that we spoke the words of life
Let is be said of us that our heritage is blessing for life

'Cause blessings and curses are choices
Will we build up, tear down? The moment of truth is now

For your kingdom, for our children
For the sake of every nation
For your kingdom, for our children
For the sake of every nation
We will choose to be a blessing for life

This is VERY cool

I found this on the Serious Eats site this morning, and it was so cool I had to share it.....

Snapshots from Asia: Leaf Bowls and Terracotta Cups

Posted by Wan Yan Ling, February 4, 2008 at 8:30 AM

In the bustling North Indian city of Kolkata, it seems ironic that the two things I’m most excited about (besides the mind boggling variety of street food) are probably also the most generic items to be found: leaf bowls and terracotta cups used by wallas (street hawkers) to contain yummy goodness.

These bowls and cups are disposable, biodegradable, ecofriendly, and—best of all—take the place of the nasty paper, plastic, foam, and foil stuff ubiquitous everywhere else.

The bowls are made from leaves that have been “pinned” together with twigs and dried in the sun, while the cups are “expertly thrown by potters at a rate of more than ten cups a minute.”

Called “matir bhar," the cup here is the bigger, 100 ml one used for water, while chai wallas (tea hawkers) dole out their daintier, one-ounce cousins. All day long, locals can be seen on the streets sipping on the sweet, spicy, milky brew… often accompanied by a dunkable bikkie on the side. Any time is tea time.

It used to be that a hole would be dug after a meal, with the used cups and leaves tossed in and covered with mud. This would eventually turn into a rich humus that could be used to fertilize crops. Urban living, however, means these cups and plates tend to end up as litter on the roadsides. While I know litter is litter, somehow, crumpled plastic just does not have the poetry that broken terracotta cups and shredded leaf bowls do. Especially when all that remains of the cups at the end of the day is red dust shimmering in the air.

About the author: Wan Yan Ling is an impoverished grad student and sourdough finger-crosser living in Rhode Island. She can usually be found in the kitchen procrastinating on "real work" or online tracking down obscure recipes. Ling thinks eating alone is no fun, and she still believes in hand-mixing.

Sad, but true......

"People are, if anything,
more touchy about being thought silly
than they are about being thought unjust."

E.B.White

thanks Vanessa!

Then the work of Christmas begins.........

The Work of Christmas

"When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with the flocks,
then the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal those broken in spirit,
to feed the hungry,
to release the oppressed,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among all peoples,
to make a little music with the heart…

And to radiate the Light of Christ,
every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say.
Then the work of Christmas begins.

-- Howard Thurman, The Mood of Christmas

I love the product.....

I was gonna write a thought provoking post this morning about Oberweis and the 14th district special congressional election in Illinois. I was. really. A post about how I couldn't reconcile buying his milk that I want to buy because of this:

Our Farmers' Pledge

Our pledge is signed by all the farmers who produce and supply milk exclusively for Oberweis Dairy.

We, the families who care for cows that produce milk for Oberweis Dairy, are proud to pledge that we will:

• Never use artificial growth hormones.
  
• Only provide milk that is free of antibiotics. If a cow gets sick, we will treat her back to health using the best available medicines but not use her milk again until it is free of antibiotics.
  
• Treat our cows humanely.
  
• Do nothing different than if our children and families were drinking all of the milk we produce.

We pledge all of this so that your family can drink Oberweis milk with confidence. We understand that if we fail to meet these obligations, we will no longer have the privilege of providing milk to Oberweis Dairy.

and this:

We treat our cows humanely.

The family farmers who care for our cows are proud to pledge to treat their cows well. For example, our cows have time to graze in pastures versus spending all their time confined in a barn, and our farmers do their best to keep our cows warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Oberweis cows are treated more like pets than farm animals.

....with his immigration policy. I gave up.

Here's the question....if I support his business, aren't I in fact supporting his beliefs? I have a headache. I couldn't work it out no matter how hard I tried. Who said this way of living like Christ was easy? It's not. Social Justice is hard. Loving people is hard. Bucking the trend is hard. Paying more for products in order to support fair trade and practices is hard. Walking a mile in another's shoes is hard. Realizing God doesn't love and bless the USA exclusively is hard. It's just hard.
So, I gave up on the post. I don't have my thoughts well defined enough in my mind to even begin to sound coherent.
If you're interested in Oberweis's stance on immigration - you can find it here.

What do you think?

This is cool too!

This is another example of why I am thrilled with Gordon college and their faculty and staff. Every time we have been on campus we have come away more and more impressed. They put their actions where their mouth is. They walk the talk.... Social Justice is a big deal at Gordon. I love to see events like this.....

Gordon Features Faculty and Alumni Artists In "To The Least of These"

What's on Your Dinner Table??

First, let me say, I am NOT a vegetarian, nor am I a PETA member. However these pictures are appalling! If you want to research this any further pick up a copy of The Ethics of What we Eat: Why our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer.



Battery Cages where egg laying hens are kept. Note - not only can they not move, they are debeaked.




Debeaking - beaks are seared off with a red hot blade. One reason this is done is to prevent them from pecking their neighbor to death....




Another look at the caged hens.... and their waste.



And this is how the "Free Range" Boiler chickens are kept. Their only freedom is that they are not in individual cages....






The above two pictures are "Free Range" turkeys. Also debeaked. Like many "free-range" and "organic" animals, these young turkeys are crowded together in a filthy shed and will not see the sun or breathe fresh air until the day they're taken to slaughter.

In today's Turkey Farms, the turkeys are bred (and drugged) to grow quickly and maximize the "white meat." Because of this they are often crippled under their own weight, and can not mate naturally.






These are the "Pig Factory" farms. Again - horribly crowded. Pigs are social animals and very intelligent. On these farms there is no mental stimulation, which often leads to insanity and compulsive chewing of the metal cages.



The gestinational pigs don't fare much better, often kept in these confining cages for their entire life.


I was gonna show you the cows, but it was just too heartbreaking. Especially the veal calves. And the pictures of beef cattle walking in waste halfway up their legs. The feedlots are abominable. The confinement of beef and dairy cattle in shoulder to shoulder conditions is awful. The cows look at you with human-like eyes....

One other thing - the waste of these animals (way too many animals for the size of the area they are confined in) kept on these farms is destroying the air, water and soil around them. To say nothing of the waste and indigestion produced gases that contribute to global warming. I'm just saying.....

So, I will leave you there. I encourage everyone to become educated about the food you eat, so you can make wise choices. There are ethical farms and companies out there, it just takes some work to find them.....
A couple other good books are: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver, 101 Reasons Why I'm A Vegetarian by Pamela Rice and a book I have just purchased, and hope is good - The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan.

Then, there's corn........

food ethics
Free Range Chickens

Not in My Backyard.....

So, yesterday in church we were talking about the Great Commission and what that means for us, today. Practicalities. What each of us as individuals can do to make the world a better place; how we can be Christ to others. And, the excuses for why we don't.

After church I pretty much forgot about the discussion. Until this morning on the way to work. As I was driving down the street the school is on, the state of the neighborhood shocked me. I guess I have been driving down the street with blinders on all year. What really hit me was a house with a FOR RENT sign in the front yard. "WHO would want to rent that dump?" I thought......

Now, keep in mind it wasn't all that long ago that I lived in this very neighborhood. For fifteen years. We had a modest house, a good-sized yard, and relatively good neighbors. And then, the neighborhood changed. Quite rapidly. We stuck it out for a couple more years. After all, the kids could walk to school; I could walk to the store and we had just finished our basement. But suddenly I became uncomfortable there. With the type of people the neighborhood was attracting. The fact that most were immigrants, many illegal, living two or three families to a house, the fact that they didn't care what their house, or yard looked like. The fact that I didn't understand them, or their culture, or their poverty. I didn't get that they were just trying to get ahead and make life for their families better. Trying to scrounge up a piece of the American Dream. And truth be told, I looked at the bottom line - would I be able to sell my house and still make a profit? I mean we were rapidly losing value weren't we?

We put the house on the market. I remember sitting on my porch one day, wrestling with the fact that I was doing that. That I was not content with my present circumstances. That my neighbors didn't have that option. How I was one to talk about going to another country to work with the poor on a mission trip, when here the poor and needy were coming to MY NEIGHBORHOOD! I struggled with it. It nagged at me. Stay here and be hands and feet to those in need? Or move to where my kids felt safe, and not looked down on for were they resided. I weighed my feelings and my family against what could possible be an opportunity to love and minister to those around me. And my family won. Well, in one sense of the word. But they lost even more. There were great teaching opportunities there. A chance for my kids to see Jesus in action. A chance to teach them that life wasn't all about them.

I look at people now that live in comfort and prosperity, who sell their homes, pick up their families and move to the inner city, or neighborhoods like the one I lived in. I missed the boat. We were already there. And I couldn't wait to get out.....

Within a week our house sold and we packed up and moved to a more "acceptable" neighborhood. Hey - I was only looking out for my kids, right?

So - would I make the same choice today? Have I learned anything? I would like to think that I would do things differently, but honestly, I don't know. This is part of my ongoing struggle to love. To be Jesus to a hurting world.

Just not in my backyard.....

Social Justice
Love
Missional

Food for thought......

"...Owing to synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, genetic modification, and a conversion of farming from a naturally based to a highly mechanized production system, the U.S. farmers now produce 3,900 calories per U.S. citizen, per day. That is twice what we need, and 700 calories a day more than they grew in 1980. Commodity farmers can only survive by producing their maximum yields, so they do. And here is the shocking plot twist: as farmers produced those extra calories, the food industry figured out how to get them into the bodies of people who didn't really want to eat 700 more calories a day. That is the well-oiled machine we call Late Capitalism." (emphasis mine)


from Animal Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.

Clarissa Pinkola Estes

On With The Song - Mary Chapin Carpenter

This isn't for the ones who blindly follow
Jingoistic bumper stickers tellin' you
To love it or leave it and you'd better love Jesus
And get out of the way of the Red, White, and Blue

This isn't for the ones who buy their six-packs
At the 7-Eleven where the clerk makes change
Whose accent makes clear (he) sure ain't from here
They call him a camel jockey instead of his name

[Chorus:]
No, this is for the ones who stand their ground
When the lines in the sand get deeper
When the whole world seems to be upside down
And (the) shots bein' taken get cheaper, cheaper

This isn't for the ones who would gladly swallow
Everything their leader would have them know
Bowing and kissin' while the truth goes missin'
"Bring it on," he crows, puttin' on his big show

This isn't for the man who can't count the bodies
Can't comfort the families, can't say when he's wrong
Playin' "I'm the decider," like some sort of Messiah
While another day passes and a hundred souls gone

[Chorus]

This is for the ones that I see above me
Three little stars in a great big sky
Light for the world and hope for the weary
They try

This isn't for the ones with their radio signal
Callin' for bonfires and boycotts, they rave
Exhorting their listeners to spit on the sinners
While countin' the bucks of advertising, they'll say

[Tag Chorus:]
This isn't for you and you know who you are
Just do what you want 'cause I know that you can
But I gotta be true to myself and to you
So on with the song, I don't give a damn

I thought I would feel relief......

I feel surprisingly sad this morning over the Saddam Hussein execution. He was a heinous man, pure evil, and I suppose had he merely been incarcerated he may have continued to control things in some manner. However, this man has no chance to repent. Ever. Who are we to take that opportunity away from him? Isn't that God's privilege? I don't know. The whole thing is way more complex than I want to think about this morning. I just know that I am sad. And evil as he was, I feel his pain, and fear, and how he must have felt the instant he realized there was no way out. This was his last day on earth, his last conversation with a loved one, his last meal. His last look at the world around him. How very, very sad. Is the world a better place today? Safer? Or just avenged?

Asleep In The Light ~ Keith Green

Do you see, do you see
All the people sinking down
Dont you care, dont you care
Are you gonna let them drown

How can you be do numb
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes
And pretend the jobs done

Oh bless me lord, bless me lord
You know its all I ever hear
No one aches, no one hurts
No one even sheds one tear

But he cries, he weeps, he bleeds
And he cares for you needs
And you just lay back
And keep soaking it in
Oh cant you see its such a sin

cause he brings people to you door
And you turn them away
As you smile and say
God bless you, be at peace
And all heaven just weeps
cause jesus came to you door
You've left him out on the streets

Open up open up
And give yourself away
You see the need, you hear the cries
So how can you delay

Gods calling and youre the one
But like jonah you run
Hes told you to speak
But you keep holding it in
Of cant you see its such a sin

The world is sleeping in the dark
That the church just cant fight
cause its asleep in the light
How can you be so dead
When youve been so well fed
Jesus rose from the grave
And you, you cant even get out of bed

Oh, jesus rose from the dead
Come on get out of your bed

How can you be so numb
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes
And pretend the jobs done
You close your eyes
And pretend the jobs done

Dont close your eyes
Dont pretend the jobs done
Come away, come away, come away with me my love
Come away, come away, come away with me my love

Some Things to think about.......

Rich Young Ruler
Derek Webb






poverty is so hard to see
when it’s only on your tv
and twenty miles across town
where we’re all living so good
that we moved out of Jesus’ neighborhood
where he’s hungry and not feeling so good
from going through our trash

he says, more than just your cash and coin
i want your time, i want your voice
i want the things you just can’t give me

so what must we do
here in the west we want to follow you
we speak the language and we keep all the rules
even a few we made up
come on and follow me
but sell your house, sell your suv
sell your stocks, sell your security
and give it to the poor

well what is this, hey what’s the deal
i don’t sleep around and i don’t steal
but i want the things you just can’t give me
i want the things you just can’t give me

because what you do to the least of these
my brother’s, you have done it to me

‘cause i want the things you just can’t give me
i want the things you just can’t give me

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



A King & A Kingdom
Derek Webb



(vs. 1)
who's your brother, who's your sister
you just walked passed him
i think you missed her
as we're all migrating to the place where our father lives
'cause we married in to a family of immigrants
(chorus)
my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
it's to a king & a kingdom

(vs. 2)
there are two great lies that i’ve heard:
“the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die”
and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him

(chorus)

(bridge)
but nothing unifies like a common enemy
and we’ve got one, sure as hell
but he may be living in your house
he may be raising up your kids
he may be sleeping with your wife
oh no, he may not look like you think

Interesting...

Anybody have any thoughts on this?

"Standing in the center of a theater in the round-type setting with an audience full of business people, Bush spoke sympathetically about the plight of foreigners who risk their lives to sneak into the United States to earn a decent wage. He said the U.S. needs a temporary guest worker program to stop people from paying to be smuggled in the back of a truck.

"I know this is an emotional debate," Bush told the Orange County Business Council. "But one thing we can't lose site of is that we are talking about human beings, decent human beings."

"You can be a nation of law and be a compassionate nation at the same time," he said to applause."

They polled Americans to see how they felt about the deportation of illegal immigrants. Do the results surprise you?

Would you favor the sweeping deportation of illegal immigrants?
Yes 59%
No 41%
Total Votes: 10,328

Mockingbird

I can't wait til Derek Webb's new album comes out. December 26th. Here are a few sample lyrics:

Derek Webb - In his words….lyrics from the new album "Mockingbird"

“there are two great lies that i've heard: ‘the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die’ and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him” -from “A King & A Kingdom”

“peace by way of war is like purity by way of fornication it's like telling someone murder is wrong and then showing them by way of execution” -from “My Enemies Are Men Like Me”

“are we defending life when we just pick and choose lives acceptable to lose and which ones to defend” -from “Love Is Not Against The Law”

“don't teach me about moderation and liberty, i prefer a shot of grape juice” -from “A New Law”

“my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man, my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood it's to a king & a kingdom” -from “A King & A Kingdom”

“come on and follow Me, but sell your house, sell your suv, sell your stocks, sell your security and give it to the poor” -From “Rich Young Ruler”

Helpless...

that's how I feel in the aftermath of Katrina. My heart hurts for the people of New Orleans. Just the thought of the devastation and the hopelessness in the faces of a city and it's people brings me to tears. Why were so many people left in that city? Why didn't someone come along side a poor or sick neighbor and see that they were safely out of the city? Why didn't the city, in the face of such an obvious threat find a way to make sure those in the poorest areas, those with no means of transportation, those who were sick or elderly had a way to evacuate to safety? And why was relief so long in coming, that when it did come the rescuers were being attacked? Imagine if you had had no food, or water for days, no clean, dry clothes, no shelter, and you were afraid for yourself, your family, your neighbors. The heat is oppressive, the smell is intolerable. And then they sent one small bus at a time to rescue people. How would you respond? I truly feel for the people of New Orleans. The forgotten people.
How can this possibly have happened in a city in the US? To a city, yes, that can't be controlled, but to a people - what were those who had the ability to be proactive thinking?
Now the question becomes what can I do? How can I help? And I haven't figured it out yet.
But I weep for a city, all the displaced souls; in disbelief and shock, I weep and pray.