Blind to the Truth

I spent most of yesterday working with social workers at Singing River Hospital to find Roy Clark (see last post) a place to spend a week in an assisted living facility. We got him settled in and hope he will have some recovery, perhaps enough to go home. I talked with someone who knows him back home and they are working to get him back to Eupora, Mississippi. Thanks to a Wal Mart gift card left by the group from Little Rock that came a few weeks ago, I was able to buy Mr. Clark some pajamas and other clothing that he needed. Although he is a neat older fellow, he is very stubborn! He believes in a few days he will be able to work again. I tried to tell him that his injuries from falling off of the top of a six foot ladder are more extensive than he believes. However, he continues to be blind to the truth. Our local paper is reporting today that there are 5,000 FEMA campers in Pascagoula with 15,000 people living in them. Hurricane season 2006 begins June 1. These people cannot ride out a hurricane in a camper. Where will 15,000 people go? Good question. Rebuilding homes is a crucial priority at this time. This is a truth that is hard to ignore. Click Here: Today's Editorial in the Sun Herald is excellent. Click Here: Before and After Pictures from across the Coast. Many of our relief workers will go home today, setting us up for a week with few helpers. One church group is scheduled to be present next week. They will arrive while our city 'celebrates' Mardi Gras. I cannot say strongly enough how rediculous it is for our city to participate in drunken revelry tossing out beads and moon pies and screaming at second rate floats. It is mind-numbingly ignorant to waste thousands and thousands of dollars on these things while people cannot live in their own homes. What does this tell us about human nature? Some people are just blind to the truth. I have read that CNN will be in New Orleans to cover the parades. I often ponder why a parade gets such national attention, but 15,000 homeless people are ignored? Why are we having studies at the national level about the initial Katrina response, when a continual Katrina response is needed? Well, it's easy to get stirred up about such things ... but ultimately Christians live in a different world. The Kingdom of God is breaking into people's lives in powerful ways. There are many who are coming to know Christ in deeper ways. We will do what we can to snatch men from the fire and teach them of the Jesus who longs to bring them a new life....a new vision of the reality in wihch we live. Thank God for the reality of His faithfulness and His promises.