My mind has been harrowed up lately by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. Admittedly, up until a few days ago, I had paid little attention to it in the news because it had initially seemed to me to be standard hurricane destruction (and, yes, I'm bothered a little bit--but not enough--to think that the standard hurricanes no longer immediatley get my attention). The days that have followed the hurricane, though, have shown the situation in New Orleans to be more dire than anything I had imagined possible here in the United States. The flooding, lack of food, water, or shelter, and the manner in which crowds of people are being herded like cattle (with dead bodies all around) alone are more than I can take.
Accompanying such desperate circumstances now, though, is a terrifying feeling of lawlessness and anarchy with rampant looting, rape, and whatever else the people brandishing weapons can get away with. I am hardly equipped with the words or experience to justly describe the depravity of the situation. My heart breaks to think of it, and yet I don't want to think of it too long because I cannot stand the thought of trading places with people there while still having a family to protect and care for. I feel terribly guilty for feeling glad that it's not us trapped there, but the guilt isn't enough to change those feelings entirely. I also feel guilty when I'm able to go about my day here in California and carry on just as though nothing disastrous had happened. At least when I'm thinking about it there seems to be some redemptive value in my distress--however little I comprehend of what's going on there.
Admittedly, I have even thought in some moments "Did the city bring this on itself?" I am not proud to have thought that, and I've been quick to banish such thoughts almost as quickly as they have come. That they came at all though stems from what little I know of New Orleans and its reputation, and also from my conviction that everything happens to us for a purpose.
If I rememeber right, similar comments were made following the September 11th attacks by some prominent Christian commentators: that the nation had been subject to the attacks because of its wickedness. Those comments almost universally struck me as inappropriate, and I felt some disgust at the ease of ascribing what had befallen us to some idea that we deserved it. I felt the same disgust when similar thoughts came to mind this week.
That is not to say it might not be true in part--though how can any of us be in the position to make such a call? The fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter anyway. I know from the Book of Mormon that God seems almost equally inclined to bring about such disasters both when the people are wicked and when they are righteous.* Whether it is for one reason or the other** (or if neither particularly warrant such a response) the answer should always be the same: to turn to Him. In that sense it hardly matters what provoked it, because He wants the same regardless. We are to look to Him for our direction, comfort, counsel, and correction. The speed with which we are able to turn to Him in such situations may not necessarily hasten the end of such suffering, but it certainly gives it meaning--and with that meaning, Hope. That is what we need now.
*The best example is in the book of Mosiah, where the Lord decided to "try" the "patience and [] faith" of the people of Helam by leading the Lamanites to them to bring them into captivity for a time. The Lord seems to make it clear that this particular trial was brought upon them because of their righteousness.
**It also seems entirely plausible that the Lord could meet out the destruction both as a punishment and "reward" at the same time, and that it would be imprudent to necessarily only ascribe one justification to an entire disaster. As C.S. Lewis pointed out in "The Horse and His Boy," God will tell you no one's story but your own--meaning that He's entirely capable of causing or allowing one large event, and yet still personally tailoring it to the needs and desserts of each individual. What also seems clear, is that it need to be left to God to tell each man their story, and any attempts we might make to adequately tell or understand another's is unjustified.
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