Thoughts on the Aftermath of Hurricane Ike

A week after Hurricane Ike hit the Texas Gulf coast, things are just about back to normal for me. The power is back on, I'm back to work, and I am again enjoying hot showers. The last week was a real inconvenience, but that is just what it was: an inconvenience. I know this sort of thing hits the working poor disproportionately hard, and for them, and others who sustained damage to their property, it will take a little more time before things are back to normal. I don't mean to minimize the impact and hardships caused by Ike, however, I had plenty to eat and drink, and a place to sleep each night. Sure, I had to 'suffer' through poor cellular and internet service, and had to do without a lot of the things that make life easier for a middle-class American, but I got by, as did/are most people. It may be frustrating, but soon it will be just a memory or a story to tell.

I guess what I am trying to say is this; we have it good. We really are blessed in the U.S., and it's not because we are special or because God wants to bless us more than some other nationality because we are a "Christian" nation -sorry, we are not. The majority of the people on this earth live in conditions worse than what we have experienced for 365 days of the year. For instance, in Africa, the lack of potable water rivals the AIDS epidemic as a health/quality of life crisis, and according to Data.org, "seventy percent of Sub-Saharan Africans live on less than $2 a day, and 200 million go hungry every day." Add to this the fact that children as young as seven and eight are forced into service as child soldiers in armed insurrections in places such as Uganda and Sierra Leone, and you can see what I mean. This is what occurs on the red soil of Africa day after day, and these same issues are played out all over the world, while we mostly close our minds to them. That is something we should think about...

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Let me leave you with the lyrics from the song "Cold Cash and Colder Hearts" by one of my favorite bands, Thrice:

They are sick, they are poor
And they die by the thousands and we look away
They are wolves at the door
And they're not gonna move us or get in our way

'Cause we don't have the time
Here at the top of the world
Feeling alright
Here at the top of the world

We hold our own by keeping our hearts cold

Different god, darker skin
They are just not a burden that we'd like to bear
They are living in "sin"
There are so many reasons for us not to care

But I'm feeling alright
Here at the top of the world
Doing just fine
Here at the top of the world

We've learned money matters most
So we keep our cards held close
Here at the top of the world

We hold our own by keeping our hearts cold
And we've learned what matters most
So we keep our hearts cold

They are no one
They are nowhere
They are not our problem
Not worth saving
Nonexistent if we keep our hearts cold

They are no one
They are nowhere s