I'm going to scream

I’m going to have to say that the news has been really affecting me negatively.  Hearing the constant finger pointing and all the media’s attack against our president and our country has fatigued me.  Being a right of center American makes it difficult to hear some of the garbage that is being released by the media.  It highlights for me how divided we are as a country.  I grew up in Grand Forks, ND and in 1997 was living in Moorhead, MN studying at Concordia College when my parents were evacuated because of the flood.  I saw my hometown inundated and fires burning downtown with six feet of water in the streets.  I remember how our little city pulled together and the community was working to help one another.  People were displaced for a month.  I remember hearing the stories and one from my aunt who was busy with the sandbagging crew working at the time seeing the water almost to the edge and then hearing someone cry out a warning that it was failing and having to get away.
I think back and wonder how far we are from that day as a country.  There was no finger pointing, though many fingers could’ve been pointed.  The community came together and helped one another.  I pray for the people of New Orleans and those affected in other parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.  I long to hear the stories of how some affected communities pulled together and see how they rebuild.  I am sad for the people of New Orleans and tire of the comments trying to turn this to a racial thing.  This is a human problem.  It is true that the greatest amount of the displaced were those that lived in impoverished communities and they have lost everything and were unable to leave on their own, but that isn’t a black or white issue.  I would argue that it was an issue of complacency on the part of those that were to establish a disaster plan for New Orleans.
The saddest testament of what has occurred in New Orleans is the fact of the “fend for yourself” mentality that has been the norm since the disaster started.  I heard the saddest report today that patients in a nursing home were left to fend for themselves because the staff did not come to help them.  The nursing staff left their posts and forsook their duty to make sure that those that they were entrusted to care for were safe.  What a sad testament.  I look forward to the tales of those neighbors that stuck together and helped one another.  I am gladdened by the stories across our wonderful nation of families opening their homes to those evacuees/refugees (whichever term fits).  I wish the media and those in their ivory towers would stop with the negative and become a part of the solution.

Hollywood – don’t criticize, do something, get planes to help, get involved with the rebuilding effort {not just money, but hands and feet}

Politicians – quit posturing, get helping

Musicians – shut-up and sing – read above for Hollywood

Thank you, Lord, for all the churches that are doing the right thing, rolling up their sleeves and getting dirty.  God’s people are doing what God’s people do – being Jesus’ hands and feet to the world.  This isn’t left-wing or right-wing, it’s a human thing and it is time for us to get together and help our fellow human beings.