i am truly struggling with writing this blog entry. as the days have passed since the earthquake struck haiti, i, like most of the country have been glued to the television, moved by dramatic images, and praying that the kingdom of god will overlap that little nation in a powerful way. so basically, anything i write, i feel, will be trite. i mean how can i even begin to comment on something so gut-wrenchingly horrible. my home is in tact. i kissed my children, healthy and whole children, before they went to bed last night. i sent them to school today with food in the their bellies, the money to pay for lunch, and as i write this blog, i am making dinner that i will feed them tonight. again, i feel that anything i can contribute in the way of commentary will be trite at best.
earlier today, i decided i would write something because i was mad. i am, of course, appalled by the despicable comments made by pat robertson and rush limbaugh. and on wednesday, i got into a bit of a tiff with a local 'politician' when i heard he had been part of a contingent that would send $25,000 to the republican (brown is his name, i believe) in massachusetts that was running for ted kennedy's old seat. when i 'suggested' that the money would be better served in haiti, he informed me that no one should send money outside of the united states. that there were people right here, in this country, in the same shape as those in haiti. so i asked him two questions: 1. where did the earthquake that registered 7.0 and created mass devastation happen (in the us)? and 2. if the $25K he and his cronies, um, i mean friends, raised would then be sent to those people? it didn't get any prettier from that point forward. i'm not proud of that moment, but i don't regret it either. i guess that's the best you can hope for.
so i guess i am writing this blog because my little altercation with a local politician is not the end of the story. that same morning i had a meeting planned with stephen saxton, staff pastor at my church, regarding a missions trip we hope to take next summer to africa. we will (it is my hope) be taking a team to zambia to build desks for a school. during this meeting stephen and i were discussing the happenings in haiti and wondered how our community could respond. amazingly, approximately 24 hours later, resources and volunteers were mobilized in response to this communal effort. new community will be collecting money and putting together hygiene kits that will go to the people effected (or affected, i can never remember the difference) by the earthquake. we are partnering with a local umc and umcor (united methodist committee of relief) to get the packages into the hands of people in haiti. and all of the details just fell into place in such a cool way.
so that is a reaction to one icky comment. what about robertson and rush? well, personally, i want to b*t*h slap the both of them. but, um, probably not the right thing to do. speaking of trite, the whole 'what would jesus do?' thing is as trite as it gets. and though i would like to think that (my) jesus would have a similar desire, the words in red lead me to believe he would probably love them in spite of it all. so below i am posting a link by donald miller, author of blue like jazz and one of my fava-flaves. i love donald miller and would love to hang out with him. ( i think you're truly a nerd if you daydream about meeting your favorite author(-s). i would also love to hang out with anne lamott, elizabeth gilbert, zora neale hurston, and mark twain. and yes, i know the later two are deceased). so the response to pat robertson by miller is authentic. christlike. and probably, the right way to respond.
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/current-events/op-ed-blog/19845-don-miller-responds-to-pat-robertson
so what about rush? below i have posted a link to a recent opening monologue from the craig ferguson show. it's not mean. it does however, contain humor and perspecive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27LDh7BBK_4
bad (tragic, terrible, unbelievable) things happen. people react, inappropriately. but, we all have the choice as to how we will respond.
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