the searbys

I'm sitting in the coffee shop in the midst of a morning thunderstorm. This is the first time its stormed in the morning since we've lived here. I've come to expect afternoon storms but not in the morning.

Yet I cannot even begin to complain in light of the terrible disaster that has befallen the Gulf Coast. I was glued to the TV last night watching scenes of despair, of hope, of pure evil, of pure goodness. I heard one ethicist comment that "tragedy puts a bright white light on all of our traits as humans." It is so true. As crisis and despair set in, emotions run high and it magnifies each expression of emotion, show of strength or exposure of flaw. I pray that people of good intention, pure hearts and deep compassion will respond as thousands have needs to be met.

I had an interesting conversation with my boss yesterday about the hurricane and its damage. We were talking about the term "biblical" in reference to the proportions of the damage. I said I understood what they were getting at with that term but I didn't quite feel right about involving God in the equation of this disaster. I guess I take an almost deist view when it comes to nature. In my reading and study of scripture and my time in nature I have come to believe that part of God's creating the world was that He set it in motion. In terms of weather, I believe it is more or less "controlled" by the parameters set into motion at creation. I believe that the changes in weather or interventions in the Old Testament, for example, were truly miracles and "acts of God." He interrupted the "natural" course, which He indeed set in motion, in order to communicate something or intervene at a critical moment in response to His people. So I guess what I saying in broader terms is that we should be careful to "blame" God for disasters like this and understand that it will be beyond our comprehension why He created the world to work as it does until we can indeed be in His presence and know from Him. I also think we should be aware of this when we pray. I'll never presume to know how God works but I know that I hear lots of prayers that seem to have no understanding in them. We often ask for God to do things without thinking about how those things fit into His grander scheme. I heard people "praying" that the storm would go this way or that, miss this town or that. Do we really believe that if enough people in New Orleans had prayed for it to kill everyone in Biloxi instead of flooding New Orleans, that would have happened? I realize I'm sounding a bit cynical, which is not my intention. Rather, I'm saying let us concentrate on healing instead of blame. On prayer for souls to be whole instead of one town or another to be spared. In the meantime, we do have opportunities to intervene in individual lives in their personal times of suffering and bring them hope that in the face of death and destruction, there is joy to be found that is deeper than any circumstance. Let me know what you think.
-joel

Good insight joel, we wrestled with some of these issues here in mason city this summer with praying for rain. We did not get rain for 3 months. It has severally hurt the crops, and God did not send relief. If he had would that have changed the weather pattern of communities around us. Were we asking for rain for us if it meant someplace else suffering?  

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I hesitate on this one. Mainly because in the book of James, God uses Elijah's prayer about weather as an example of how effective prayer is. I agree with you that not every instance of weather is a direct action of God. He has set up natural laws that govern weather for the most part. However, it seems to me that He could still intervene in the same ways He did in the OT. Could this hurricane have been avoided? I don't know. I bet there were people praying for it not to hit New Orleans. Prayer that seems unanswered is always difficult to deal with, to be sure. Yet, I would not use such an experience and interpret it to mean that God will never answer prayers about weather. I agree with you that we need to pray first that God's will be done and not to pray with thinking about how it fits into God's plan. I still think we should continue to pray and not doubt God's ability or mercy. Well, there's my two cents, for what its worth.  

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