Carnival Triumph, Humanity, and our need for something bigger

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've no doubt seen the photos of the Carnival Triumph. The ship lost power after an engine room fire and was adrift in the Gulf of Mexico until being towed to Mobile, Alabama. As you're undoubtedly aware if you read my last post, a tornado recently ripped through the town I called home for 7 years. As I read the stories of people hoarding food, stealing food off people's tables when the lights went out, and daisy stringing power outlets together so they could charge their phones and other electronics I began to realize exactly what we were dealing with. You see this is an idea often discussed by various sources. There's even wikis that describe steps to surviving when social order breaks down. You see it took less that a week for social order to breakdown aboard the Carnival Triumph.In less than a week, people began stealing or hoarding food from other people. People continued using the bathrooms despite them not working with zero regard for the health or well being of their fellow passengers. People immediately started putting on life jackets and panicking as soon as the pa call came on calling for crew help.For their part the crew did everything possible to make this bad situation as bearable as possible. The attitudes and actions displayed by the folks on board the ship (waiting 4 hours to get to the gift shop and buy a $6 can of pringles?) display the most basic idea of humanity. At our most basic, panicked, or desperate moments we are simply a broken people who revert to our primal instincts of protect ourselves and forget everything else. It's in this brokenness we reveal our need for something bigger than ourselves. See Christ calls us to lay down ourselves. At certain points in the New Testament, we are called to lay down our lives and follow Christ or told that there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for their friend. What we saw on the Carnival Triumph was a broken people desperately in need of a better way. One of the most joyous and frustrating aspects of my walk with Christ is times when I want so desperately to watch out for myself and follow my own path but am moved by the Spirit to put others before myself. If the Triumph incident teaches us anything, it's that we are a broken people who must remember our call to put others first even when our mind tells us to watch for us.

Where was God when.....

Hattiesburg Tornado

Sunday a tornado ripped through Hattiesburg, Mississippi and the surrounding area. As is typical in this technological age, almost immediately a facebook group for info and support popped up. At the end of tuesday, the facebook group posted a video of the University of Southern Mississippi's Wind Symphony playing Amazing Grace. USM's music program is world renown and is one of the top music programs in all of the United States. The music program lost 2 of their 3 buildings in the storm and the 3rd has major damage to it. It was a great gesture to acknowledge the importance of the music department and acknowledge the grace of God that despite over 1,400 homes being damaged or destroyed and over 100 people being injured there were no deaths. An individual began commenting on the post about where was God's grace for all the people who wanted to keep their home and not have it destroyed by the tornado? What do we do with that? How does one respond? Here is how I respond when asked that question. God created the heavens and earth and every thing on it. God continues to create every day and in every way. Natural Disasters are simply a part of the environment and ecosystem that God has created. God does not "cause" natural disasters. Contrary to the teachings and musings of the folks on the 700 club God does not send tornados and hurricanes down on us to "punish us" for our sin. They are simply a result of the ecosystems in which we live. However God's grace is always present. Those who worship Christ worship the great redeemer. A God who emphasizes new creation who takes the broken, beaten, and damned and redeems them. A God that brings beauty from the ashes. God is not the reason people lost their homes. God is not responsible for the evil and disaster of the world, but God's grace and providence is the reason that there are zero deaths from an EF4 tornado ripping through the 3rd largest city in Mississippi and it's suburbs. I'm reminded of how Rev. Adam Hamilton addressed a similar question when returning from earthquake relief in Haiti. "If you remove God from the earthquake in Haiti, the earthquake still happens. It's a part of nature, but you've removed the only source of comfort some people may find in the midst of such a terrible disaster" Grace is in the midst of disaster. There will always be cynics, agnostics, and atheists who decry God as evil for not protecting people from disasters like this. We as Christians must respond and articulate good theology of Christ who has and is redeeming despite destruction.Where was God when a tornado ripped through Hattiesburg? In our midst, wrapping his arms around those he calls his beloved and protecting them.