Bill Dogterom
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
A Soul Soaking Sorrow
Once again, the god of technology has proven ineffectual against the force of nature, and we are left in shocked sorrow. The levies failed. The systems of protection proved abysmally inadequate. The government is overwhelmed or inept or both. The agencies of protection are themselves in need of protection. The odor of toxic blame is in the air and will mingle with mourning and rage and sorrow for a very long time to come. Investigations will be launched, committees will be formed, special panels will convene, lawsuits will be filed, and so it will go. For years we will be episodically captivated by the single worst disaster in the history of the nation.
Perhaps that is as it should be. We are, after all, not really built for the full experiential knowledge of the good and evil we have chosen to know. We can only take horror in small doses. It takes something of magnitude to galvanize us to response – and even then it has to be concentrated and focused. We are not exercised by the countless, even though counted, deaths as a result of drunk driving, for example. That doesn’t mean that we don’t care – it means that we can’t care. Until it effects us. Or until it is too big on our emotional radar screen to ignore.
But even then, we move to “normal” as soon as we can, moving back into flood plains, depending on our technological prowess to save us, ignoring the warnings that might have saved a few had they been heeded, seeking the solace of government funding, resorting to blame for gain as a final reminder of the horror that was. Until the next time.
When will we learn that technology is not our savior? Higher, stronger levies post-pone – but do not prevent – disaster. Better building codes minimize, but do not eliminate collapse. Heeded early warnings reduce life loss, but can do nothing to soften the blow of the life that is lost.
We stand teary eyed, heavy hearted, numb, powerless in the face of natural reality. It is truly terrible. But we should have expected nothing else. Only in God is our security.
Katrina did not happen as punishment. It did not even happen to teach us a lesson. But it would be wise if we learned from it. Or it will have been wasted. And that would be a crying, dying, shame. A truly soul soaking sorrow.
Perhaps that is as it should be. We are, after all, not really built for the full experiential knowledge of the good and evil we have chosen to know. We can only take horror in small doses. It takes something of magnitude to galvanize us to response – and even then it has to be concentrated and focused. We are not exercised by the countless, even though counted, deaths as a result of drunk driving, for example. That doesn’t mean that we don’t care – it means that we can’t care. Until it effects us. Or until it is too big on our emotional radar screen to ignore.
But even then, we move to “normal” as soon as we can, moving back into flood plains, depending on our technological prowess to save us, ignoring the warnings that might have saved a few had they been heeded, seeking the solace of government funding, resorting to blame for gain as a final reminder of the horror that was. Until the next time.
When will we learn that technology is not our savior? Higher, stronger levies post-pone – but do not prevent – disaster. Better building codes minimize, but do not eliminate collapse. Heeded early warnings reduce life loss, but can do nothing to soften the blow of the life that is lost.
We stand teary eyed, heavy hearted, numb, powerless in the face of natural reality. It is truly terrible. But we should have expected nothing else. Only in God is our security.
Katrina did not happen as punishment. It did not even happen to teach us a lesson. But it would be wise if we learned from it. Or it will have been wasted. And that would be a crying, dying, shame. A truly soul soaking sorrow.
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It has been hard for me to hear Christians tell others that God brought Katrina as punishment for a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. You are correct. There are lessons to be learned. Some will learn them, some will not. *sigh*
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