The Answer

This was a hard work week for me.  Not only was I busy with some complex things at work, I was watching a nasty storm brew in the Gulf of Mexico, and as much I was telling myself and others that I wasn’t worried about it….I was worried about it.  Since October 2018, when I rode out a category 5 hurricane in my house, and watched water spew out of the ceiling in multiple places and listened to the shingles peel off the roof, and saw the big tree in my yard split in two, storms cause me to be anxious.  That anxiety showed up in a real way as Hurricane Laura approached the Louisiana/Texas coast.  Although it was miles away from me, I was anxious for my “Gulf Coast family” and I knew that we would soon be members of another family….Hurricane survivors.  And I knew what was waiting for my “family” after the winds stopped and the waters receded….and my eyes leaked with those memories and my chest tightened.  

I’ve mentioned before that my favorite question is “why?” but on Wednesday night as I sat watching the news of the storm intensifying and preparations for a middle of the night landfall, I was questioning God about “why”……As a person of faith I believe that God is sovereign, and therefore things don’t happen that are beyond the control of God.  I don’t believe that God causes bad things to happen, but in my experience, God has allowed “bad” things to happen.  My conversation was tense, I was feeling angry about what my “family” in Louisiana was about to go through, and I knew that with just a “thought” God could calm the seas and end the storm.  And so, I was asking about that, and crying out on behalf of those that I knew were going to face devastation like they probably never experienced before, asking “why?”

God usually doesn’t answer me right away…..and I didn’t get any booming voices, or answers as I sat crying out.  But the following day, I got an answer.  I was watching a video on Facebook by a man from my community who was posting about his efforts to collect the things that were needed to help our “family” to the west to deal with the aftermath of the storm.  He said something that just struck me so deeply….he said “it’s time to remember what was done for us in our time of need, and it’s time to come together to help out, because even though we’re still recovering here, we know how they feel”.  That statement brought tears to my eyes, and I felt like I had a bit of an answer to my question of why God had allowed this storm to happen…..perhaps it was because we had forgotten that we are all in this thing called life TOGETHER.  We humans are stubborn creatures, and I think that it takes drastic circumstances to break through our crusty shells sometimes.  And maybe, just maybe, God realized that the stress of the last few months, and the anxiety of the upcoming season was taking our focus away from the fact that we are best when we are UNITED.  And, what I know from my experience after Hurricane Michael is that in tragedy we rise to our best.  

And then, today, God showed up again with some more wisdom for me on this.  I was listening to some brilliant teaching form Dr Curt Thompson, and he was talking about how the recent events, COVID, racial fracture, etc. have impacted us so severely because they have caused disruption to the rhythms of our lives, and as creatures designed for rhythm in a world of rhythms, this disruption has a negative effect on us.  He offered advice to counter this disruption and to tackle these tough feelings by routinely asking ourselves “What is the next new artifact of beauty that I can create in this season.” He reminded me that “beautiful things happen in the context of messiness.”  

And so, as I sit here at the end of a hard work week, after a tragic storm has ravaged another part of our Gulf Coast community, I’m feeling less angry and lost and unsure.  I may not know what it looks like yet, but I know that God is encouraging me, and us, to find that next new artifact of beauty that we can create in the midst of this messiness that is this season, and to remember that our strength comes from our UNITY, not our division.  I think if I focus on that…..I can find my way through it all.  I’m taking the challenge to continue to see the wonderful in the mess and contribute to the wonderful any way that I can….and I hope you will, too!