During the last few weeks, I have been following the weather radar with interest. Hurricane season is upon us, reminding us that the weather is predictable to a point, but ultimately we cannot control it. I am now watching what is happening with Jose and Maria. I watched with interest as Harvey moved toward Texas, knowing that I had family on the coast, and friends in Houston. How would they fare?
During the week of Harvey’s assault on Houston, I followed the storm on Twitter. Many people commented on their circumstances in Houston, posted pictures, and demonstrated for the world how people come together in a time of crisis. Suddenly all eyes turned to this disaster and away from the hostility of politics and social justice issues.
I noticed that racial issues did not take precedence during this storm. I think it’s interesting that for all of the hype about racism, storms do not pick ethnic, racial, or religious groups to attack. Storms seem respect no one. They descend with fury and wipe out everything in their paths.
I have noticed that the cataclysmic storms do draw people of diversity together. The feeling of empathy and sympathy comes forth from human beings during times of tragedy, like at no other times. A feeling of peace comes across in the face of the storm. Interesting contrast to the weeks before this one when Anti-fa’s white faces covered with masks was beating the daylights out of the knuckleheads who consider themselves part of a superior race. The reaction in the aftermath of the storms created quite a contrast to the assault on the nation’s history, by tearing down or defacing statues of figures good and bad in our town squares. Natural disaster replaced complete social chaos.
As I followed on Twitter, I read many reactions and responses to the events in Houston and Florida. One caught me attention. A man, I assume, was raging against God for sending the storm to Houston. Interesting, I thought, how suddenly God is to blame. I mused on his comments for about a week. Here are a few thoughts in response.
- Why are you bringing God into this situation? You don’t believe in Him from what I gather in your tweets.
- You say Houston didn’t deserve this destruction. Is there another city that does?
- Deserve? The way I see it if we got we deserved, we would all be annihilated. You might think about what you have that you don’t deserve, that came to you as a blessing.
- Does a storm of the magnitude of Harvey or Irma remind you how small you are in comparision to nature? What can you do, little man, to stop that storm? All you can do is prepare yourself and others around you to weather it.
- Don’t you see how these storms demonstrate the uniqueness of humanity? What we have that differs from animals is that we have empathy, sympathy, and generosity, which all manifest themselves in times like these.
It doesn’t matter what your race, ethnic origin, religious affiliation, or economic status is. We are human beings with a sense of connection to each other. These events draw us together. Little hatred was evident as people helped others in need. The only hatred I witnessed was among looters who took advantage of the circumstances for their own benefit. Those individuals demonstrated a lack of decency, and maybe they deserve a little personal hurricane in their lives.
Overall, these weeks have been fascinating to watch. Storms of grand magnitude can put the fear of God in people. They scramble to prepare and protect their families and property. But one thing to consider is that things are dispensable. Life is eternal. Consider which needs the most saving.