life, love & laundry
Hurricane God
I’ve been trying to type up our Ike experiences for several days but all the posts are so long and lame and boring and sound like this “trees down, disaster, apocalyptic, so sad, so fortunate, yes I know, blah blah blah”. I’ve already twittered the relevant details and I think they really tell the story in simple one-liners so if you want to know what happened and you weren’t following along on the twitter feed, you can go read it now.
Ok so that said, here’s what I want to say. Hurricanes are an act of nature. I do not believe they are an act of God. I do not believe that if God exists that s/he would seek vengeance on any population for any reason through hurricanes, flooding or tornadoes. But even more, I do not believe when these horrific acts of nature occur that some people were spared more because they prayed harder or because they had more people praying for them. Not only do I not believe it but it makes me downright furious when I hear it. What it says to me is that these people believe in a God who would punish those who have fewer people praying for them by tearing apart their lives with flooding and property damage or loss. Yet over and over and over I have read and heard and been told about how God has worked (selective) miracles in some people’s yards and neighborhoods (while completely trashing others regardless of their religious convictions or prayer chains). WTF people?!?! I can agree to disagree if people want to think that hurricanes are God’s warning to the world. But when they start getting personal and actually suggesting it was God’s Will that sent a tree through the house to kill a sleeping woman up the road or that it was God’s Will that saved her neighbor from a similar fate because they had family praying for them all over the country….well that is some sort of screwed up God to believe in, if you ask me.
And another thing about God….those idiots who refused evacuation orders and proudly delcared that their God would protect them are downright fools. It has caused Tony and I to repeat this well-known joke over and over in the last week:
Typical Jim
There was a man called Jim, who lived near a river.
Jim was a very religious man.
One day, the river rose over the banks and flooded the town, and Jim was forced to climb onto his porch roof.
While sitting there, a man in a boat comes along and tells Jim to get in the boat with him.
Jim says “No, that’s ok. God will take care of me.”
So, the man in the boat drives off.
The water rises, so Jim climbs onto his roof.
At that time, another boat comes along and the person in that one tells Jim to get in.
Jim replies, “No, that’s ok. God will take care of me.”
The person in the boat then leaves.
The water rises even more, and Jim climbs on his chimney.
Then a helicopter comes and lowers a ladder. The woman in the helicopter tells Jim to climb up the ladder and get in.
Jim tells her “That’s ok.”
The woman says “Are you sure?”
Jim says, “Yeah, I’m sure God will take care of me.
Finally, the water rises too high and Jim drowns.
Jim gets up to Heaven and is face-to-face with God.
Jim says to God “You told me you would take care of me! What happened?”
God replied “Well, I sent you two boats and a helicopter. What else did you want?”
Anyway, with that story in mind, we have and continue to feel very fortunate (even if our own particular spiritual ideology does not credit a higher power for our good fortune). I can’t fill my blog with whining or complaints. We had lots of advance warning, we had the funds to get out of dodge with our children and pets. We had beautiful weather to return home to. We had almost no damage to our home (what damage we had was fixed within 24 hours) and no damage at all to our personal property. The back yard is absolutely trashed but it is not our responsibility to clean it up. The pool service was out taking care of the pool before we could blink. Power was only out a short 4 days and we only were here for 2 of those days. Our yard will be cleaned up tomorrow. Our kids had a great time, the neighbors were all happy and friendly and the kids got a week off school with weather that was beautiful enough for them to enjoy it. I even felt a little (ok, a lot) guilty for not feeling more appreciative when our power finally went on because we knew that would mean saying goodbye to the busy neighborhood and friendly faces as everyone retreated back into homes, jobs and life.
I have a few pictures but I don’t think they really do the damage justice. You have to really drive around and see the destruction to appreciate its extent. But I’ll share what I have anyway. Full descriptions of each picture are at the flickr sight – you can read them by clicking on the picture.
The most frustrating thing about being home has been not knowing how to help. No one is allowed on Galveston island and I’m sure our beloved Bolivar is off limits too. I’ve been asking around and so far have come up dry. All this need and no clear way to help. I can’t even donate blood. Today at 11am we got a tip that there were 500 dogs and cats that were in dire straights at our animal shelter and we were there with crates and kennels by 11:30 ready to help. Can you believe that there were only a handful of animals left and empty kennels available?!?!? We left empty-handed! I’ve offered up my extra water, batteries, etc to anyone in the area who might need it but it seems like most have power and the rest have hit the road long ago to ride out the outages in comfier quarters.
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I agree completely with everything you said about the God part. I’m glad you didn’t have any major damage and that the community has come together to help each other out.
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Amen to that! I had a very similar reaction after 9-11. Those who say that god saved them really need to be prepared to explain to the families of the victims why god chose them over others. And if you really, really feel that way, why not keep it to yourself.
We had an F5 tornado about 40 miles from us this past summer and it seemed the best way to help was by donating clothes and non-perishable food. Food banks really run low during the warmer seasons.
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phew Nicki- maybe I’ll just email ya….I think you know how I feel about God, but i think I’d rather email ya….maybe you don’t want my thoughts anyway…
I am so glad you guys are ok, that you have much to be grateful for, whoever/whatever or nothing at all that you attibute it to….
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great post nicki!! loved all of it :)
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Glad to hear y’all did ok. I know your area was hit pretty hard. I have really liked what I have seen in the greater Houston community. A lot of good people out there.
Christy
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Yes.
This may be controversial, but I have these same thoughts when folks in the adoption community post that their adoptions went through because of prayer, or because of God, while other families sit and wait, and then face the shut down of a program. Anyway…
Glad you’re home and safe.
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I really agree with what you’ve said, and you said it well. I’m glad that everyone is ok and the damage to your stuff was minimal, but it still has obviously been a scary, stressful, exhausting experience and I’ve been thinking about you tons. Kinda seems like you can join Christina and I (and I think maybe Elaine would qualify too, along with many, many others I”m sure) in banishing the, as I’m calling it, Summer of Suckiness. Bring on the Fabulous Fall, right?
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Nicki~
I couldn’t agree with you more about the god thing – what a ridiculous notion to think that if there is a god that he/she would actually do that – maybe Palin could explain it? Seriously.
I was hoping that you didn’t have too much damage. My Dad lives within a mile from you and I was totally upset that he didn’t leave, I didn’t sleep all night and I spoke to him every few hours. He rode out Rita and was terrified and it was nowhere near as bad as Ike – he also had minimal damage. We were just in Kemah and Galveston in May and we’ve visited there once a year for about the past 10 years and I’m just heartbroken about the damage to that area too. And only 4 days without power! What’s up with that? We had a big thunderstorm in Michigan in June that knocked ours out for 7 days! LOL
I’m glad that you and your family are all doing well!
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Man are we on the same page! I loved this post. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE the picture in your previous post of Addy-Mai doing a plie. I cracked up!! She is such a character and that little pose is priceless. So glad you guys are safe and in good spirits.
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What? I can’t believe people are thinking that stuff? I mean my personal take is that God allows bad stuff to happen but doesn’t CAUSE it to happen. And when bad stuff happens, he still ultimately works it out for the good of those that love him and his ULTIMATE will is done despite when bad staff happens. I am prob. not explaining myself real well. But I know a lot of good people out there who experience horrible tragedies and I personally just can’t imagine thinking that somehow they are being punished? I just don’t get it.
But I am very very happy and relieved for you that you haven’t had too much damage…so sad for the people who have experienced such loss due to Ike.
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I’m so glad things are returning to normal for you so soon after Ike. IMO, your take on God’s part in it all was written perfectly whether you believe in a higher power or not.
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Nicki, I’m glad you didn’t have too much damage. I’m right there with you on the God issue. I think it is often a way to avoid any personal responsibility for how your life turns out. And in relation to adoption, it drives me crazy when someone says, “God meant us to have this child.” The flip side of that would be that God didn’t want the birthmother to keep their own child – not a very benevolent God if you ask me.
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Hey! I’m trying to organize a moment of prayer tonight at 8 pm to pray for Gina to get G&R soon! She’s been waiting ten months… Help me get the word out!
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I have always loved that “Typical Jim” story/joke. It is a very accurate reflection of what I believe (I mean, our church actually has an entire program promoting food storage and emergency preparedness so that we can help ourselves AND others).
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