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Blame Game

Grace — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 10:21:45 GMT

O God,
I am so ashamed!
Today my friend and I were talking about Katrina's madness
And then my friend began to explain why it happend
and that you had a hand in it.
She named group after group in N'Orleans
whose sin and heathen ways had provoked your anger
and you had unleashed Katrina.
She refused to talk of the innocent people i suggested
saying "the innocent always will suffer. that's the way the cookie crumbles."
I was so stunned i had no words to speak back
and i am so ashamed that
Face to face with the broken levee that holds such hatred at bay
I had no a single word to say.
Please Please Please God
protect us from turning you into some monster
Please please please God
HELP!

re: - a little perspective

kmcintyre — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 15:39:45 GMT

O God, Help those who still cling to their pride. We Americans tell the rest of the world "Be like us." We offer help in every emergency. Now all nations grieve with us and want to give, just like us. It is what we have told them to do.

Lord, help us graciously accept the generousity from nations who are waiting to help. Waiting to hear that they are welcome here. In letting them help you will bless them.

In our receiving from enemies and friends alike you will bless us. We will be drawn closer together in these mean times.

Let us be humble before you in recieving, for it is only in humility that we will ever hear the gentle whisper of Love. Amen

When You've Got Nothing left But God

Safiyah Fosua — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 23:18:54 GMT

Submitted on Saturday, September 03, 2005 3:15 PM by David Black
We lost our home in South Dade in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew washed ashore. I never thought I'd see anything as awful again - at least I hoped I wouldn't. I'm sad to say, Andrew, bad as it was, was a cake walk compared to what I know is going on in the aftermath of Katrina. These people will never be the same again. Believe me, I know.

I remember walking along in the floodwaters in my neighborhood, looking at everything in despair, and singing the words of a song that was on the radio just days before... I'm going to reprint them here in the hope that they will help someone in their time of need. May God bless everyone there and know that those of us who were not affected but who care deeply about you are trying to do everything we can to help. Now, for the lyrics:

Title: When You've Got Nothing Left But God (Mike Murdock)

(We regret that copyright restrictions prevent us from reprinting the lyrics here but you may read the lyrics on this page http://www.bensonsound.com/lyrics/1011.htm -- web moderator)

In search of a straw

Steve Downey — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 20:27:18 GMT

It began as an echo
a hint
whispering: “I might hurt – but then again, maybe not…”

Hour upon hour
hinting and flirting
until it emerged
as pain.

Fleeting pain
nagging pain
aching pain
a pain that gnawed and chewed
a pain that signaled and threatened
a pain that made me want to climb the walls
and claw at the windows.

And then, I heard the dreaded ‘snap.’
Snapped so hard that it
snapped my mind
snapped my will
snapping in every waking thought
snapping that refused to let me sleep – forget about dream!

Didn’t everybody hear the snap
that sounded like thunder on the inside?

Surely if they heard the thunderous sound that snapped inside of me, they would come and wake me from this eyes-open bad dream.

Perhaps no one will believe how awful it really is
until I crawl through the rubble
and locate the very straw
that broke my back.

[Safiyah Fosua, Greater New Jersey Annual Conference, Director of Invitational Preaching Ministries, GBOD. September 1, 2005]

Disaster meets prayer again

Steve Downey — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 19:36:17 GMT

Disaster and prayer met again
Shouting and moaning the name Katrina

Aching over loss
Frayed souls huddle close
Clutching in the darkness for scraps of hope

Frantic desperation
Groans too deep for words beat against howling winds

Wet with fear
One refugee mops another’s worried brow

Devastated lives
Redefine “normal” amid chaos and rubble

Raw, intense prayers
Pour from strained lives

Kwasi Kena, Greater New Jersey Annual Conference, Director of Evangelism GBOD