Dear Friends in Christ,
Hurricane Katrina has proven to be one of the worst natural disasters in American history. The devastation has reached biblical proportions. The sunny skies now hovering over New Orleans and Mississippi have only served to reveal the enormity of the loss and the colossal proportions of the clean-up – projected to take months and, of course, years in terms of rebuilding the city. Countless human lives have been lost; and countless others have been ruined. What are the refugees to return to? Their homes, jobs, and livelihoods have been blown or swept away. For hundreds of thousands of people, “normal life” no longer exists. In the short term, many will be struggling with fatigue, exhaustion, and sheer physical survival; in the long term perhaps with depression and hopelessness.
Human nature being what it is, we probably sympathize and empathize to a degree; but we can also be rather indifferent since we are not directly affected. We have our own lives to live and things to be accomplished today and tomorrow. We will argue over the same petty things as we did yesterday, though we are convinced that we are learning the lesson of appreciating the people in our lives and the things around us, when we see others stripped of them in the rising flood waters. As we shake our heads in disbelief over what we may view on the evening news, we may simultaneously be wondering just what to have for dessert – and experience a tremor of irritation if it is not available. And – like me – we will complain about the rising gas prices! This is all perhaps inevitable as the world does not – and cannot – stop because of a localized disaster, enormous though it may be. With that built-in instinct for survival that characterizes human beings, we will inwardly sigh in relief that it was ”someone else” and not me.
On the other hand, we are certain to see and hear of countless acts of heroism, sacrifice and selflessness in the days and months to come. Americans do have an impressive history of “coming together” in the face of precisely such disasters in order to offer the practical “hands-on” help that will now be so much in need. Volunteers, anonymous and unpaid, will put in hours and days of physically and emotionally draining work in order to speed up the process of returning the current surreal environment of New Orleans and other hard-hit places to normal, sanitary and decent living conditions. Millions of dollars and endless supplies of food, water and clothing will be donated and distributed. It will be greatly encouraging to see the other side of human nature also in full display as mentioned above - compassion, sacrifice, selflessness, etc.
Natural disasters are still to this day called “acts of God,” whether or not people actually believe that God is active in history. But though that is precisely what we believe as Orthodox Christians, an “act of God” remains a very ambiguous, if not misleading, term. We do not believe that this hurricane and flood were directly willed by God for some punative or didactic purpose. Were the people of New Orleans and Mississippi – or of Indonesia for that matter – any more sinful than the rest of us? Were they being made an example of for our future edification or to put the fear of God into us? Our theological reflection should not lead us into these murky considerations, unworthy of the God we love and adore. As the Orthodox theologian, David Hart, wrote in an article entitled “Tsunami and Theodicy:”
I do not believe we Christians are obliged – or even allowed – to look upon the devastion
visited upon the coasts of the Indian Ocean and to console ourselves with the vacuous cant
about the mysterious course taken by God’s goodness in this world, or to assure others
that some ultimate meaning or purpose resides in so much misery. Ours is, after all,
a religion of salvation; our faith is in a God who has come to rescue His creation from
the absurdity of sin and the emptiness of death, and so we are permitted to hate these
things with a perfect hatred …
This victory over evil and death has already been won by Christ, but we acknowledge that the full-fruits and consequence of that victory – the wiping away of all sickness, sorrow and sighing - has not yet been fully achieved. The Apostle Paul tells us that the creation is still groaning and in travail until the full revelation of the sons of God. The scriptural revelation tells us that this is connected to human sin. (The entire passage of ROM. 8:18-25 must be read with great care and attention). Again, as David Hart writes:
Until then, the world remains a place of struggle between light and darkness, truth
and falsehood, life and death; and, in such a world, our portion is charity.
A pious and sigh-filled resignation in the face of such a natural disaster – as well as accidents, illness, war, terrorist attacks - does not make our response any more “Christian” than the next. We need much more to somehow feel the sting and human loss of such events, and even the grief and anger that will accompany that awareness. Human loss, suffering and death are enemies that God has overcome on our behalf through Christ. In the end they will lose their grip over our lives and then God will be all in all. To once more refer to a passing comment by David Hart that strikes me as very insightful: “Faith … has set us free from optimism, and taught us hope instead.” And hope comes from God and will lead us to God.
Comments (6)
Amen.
Amen. And I don’t go overboard on the “judgement” part. As I said, it’s just not something to be dismissed out of hand. It is something to be considered–quietly and through the actions of the believer to affect change in their sphere of influence. This way we can be like Nineveh listening to the counsel of salvation from Jonah who has already been in the belly of the fish.
Romans 8 has become increasingly important to me as a formerly practicing environmental attorney. Lots to ponder
Probably the best I’ve read on the “why” of tragedy….any tragedy. May I share it elsewhere?
“May I share it elsewhere?”
Yes Marsha please do, Fr. Steven would like that.
:goodjob: