The Buzz

So far I haven't blogged my thoughts on Hurricane Katrina. I don't have any profound things to say about such tradgedy, heroism, survival, death, and destruction. I'm asking myself the question everyone else is asking, "What can I do to ease these burdens?" I've eavesdropped on a terribly uncomfortable conversation in the upscale nail salon (yes, I admit to the sin of vanity here) where one woman shouted to another over surreal and entirely too loud tango music, "Why are they (hurricane refugees) coming here to Knoxville? Why can't they just stay in Louisiana in another town till their's get fixed?" Translation: "I don't want a bunch of poor people scrounging in my neck of the woods." It seemed completely unreasonable for me to shout over their shouts and the bizarre music my thoughts on compassion and doing our part to relieve suffering.
The church where my children play soccer began hosting 250 refugees yesterday. Knoxville has no public transportation to speak of and the city is laid out in such a way that walkers are in grave danger, so these folks may be bored to tears. Children's soccer games may offer a break in the monotony of sharing living space with far too many families. My dear husband hopes the coaches will invite children to join us. My first response was not so charitable. As a mother who lets even her 4 year old wander freely around the outskirts of several fields, I thought of how I will need to keep a tight reign on four children who haven't been tethered in this familiar location before. Don't get me wrong, I welcome these people. I look at this as an opportunity to share homemade cookies and swap stories with new guests to our community. I'll just do so with Pooh Bear on my lap. Maybe the cookies will make her happy too.



Now I'll step up onto my soapbox for just a moment.

Through heresay, I heard about an NPR commentary which suggested evolution was demonstrated over intelligent design theory, because no intelligent designer would create such a horrible thing as a hurricane. I disagreed instantly, because it seemed to me the commentator had lost "the big picture"and was looking only through a humancentric lense. What does a hurricane stir up? A hurricane replenishes entire ecosystems. Though immediate life suffers, the soil and waters fill with rich nutrients and bring back balance to the earth after long periods of depletion. Who are we as humans to reroute the waters of the Delta to suit ourselves? Poorly designed flood walls were built to keep water out of a city where it was destined to flow at such times. The water and storms clearly have thunderously spoken that their purposes have been thwarted by us. I hope we listen more closely to intelligent design when the city of New Orleans is rebuilt. It seems humans had tuned out these voices and suffered for it.

Stepping down from my soap box now and avoiding lightning bolts that may strike me when I use paper plates for lunch today.