Katrina Notes

Katrina Notes

Two statements coming from media coverage of hurricane Katrina’s aftermath have stayed with me: “We have each other” and “If you know God, pray. . .”

Ann and Vernon’s Gulfport, MS longtime home was leveled. They summed up their losses as significant, but not devastating by saying to NBC’s Lester Holt, “We have each other.” Many now identify with their mantra.

Mansions and mobile homes, bicycles and Chevys, clothing and canned goods are submerged in the toxic soup along the south east Gulf Coast. Louisiana’s governor estimates that at least 500,000 homes were destroyed in her home state. Alabama and Mississippi also carry dismal tallies.

The second statement is from Linda, interviewed by Houston’s channel 2 Phil Archer. On Sunday, Linda’s husband stayed behind to protect their house, and she hasn’t heard from him since. She pled with viewers, “If you know God, pray for my husband.”

In the Bible, Job’s story is one with which sufferers can identify. Job’s disaster-saga included foreign invasion and forces of nature. His sons and daughters, servants and cattle were gone. Finally, he became so ill he was near death.

Job’s life was chronicled for such a time as this. After his immense loss, friends came to commiserate with him. They may not have given him the best theological answers, but at least they had “each other.”

Throughout Job’s misery and his later gaining back more than he lost, he was getting to “know God.” One time, God posed rhetorical questions to Job from a storm. God asked were you there when I “laid the earth’s foundation” (38:4), or if Job had ever “entered the storehouses of the snow (vs. 22).

God further asked, “Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion?” (vs. 31). “Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?” (vs. 41).

After Creator God, itemized his resume, Job said, “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you” (42:5). Throughout Job’s life, God brought him to a better understanding of divine care.

Because of Katrina’s wind and water baptism, Job’s misery is multiplied by tens of thousands in the southern United States. Hurricane victim Linda advised, “If you know God, pray . . .”

Ann and Vernon reiterated what many are saying and reminded the world that family is precious. Grieving the loss of a house is not the same as mourning for friends or family. Pray and cherish, keen reminders that human suffering can improve as long as “we have each other.”

To contact Cathy visit http://www.cathymessecar.com/