TABLE OF CONTENTS | I smile when I remember what Humpty Dumpty claimed in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. "I can explain all the poems that ever were invented and a good many that haven't been invented yet." But my reaction is quite different when some self-anointed religious voice seizes the ambitious role of "the great explainer" and attempts to "explain" the stark tragedy of the tsunami. The destruction is so unfathomable that I fail to understand the dimensions of it and I sure can't explain why it happened. Geologists can describe what happened but they can't explain it either. Intellectually, I know that massive tectonic plates shifted and the result even changed the rotation of the earth on its axis. A little knowledge is dangerous so I don't go beyond that limited perspective. Secretary of State Colin Powell, usually given to a measured response to any occasion, couldn't find the words to convey his feelings on surveying the countries hardest hit. Yet, some are trying to explain the havoc in the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean by calling the devastation punishment from God. Punishment because they are Muslim? Punishment because they are Christian? Punishment for what? Living there? What a horrid image of God! Don't they ever learn? Do you remember the occasion when Jerry Falwell's colleague, Pat Robertson, claimed God was directing a hurricane to a specific location as judgment? I was amused by the report that it hit the area of Virginia where they base their operations. I guess God doesn't have a good sense of direction! Again, Falwell and Robertson dared to blame 9/11 on the alleged diminishment of morality in this country. Expressed, in their views, by the growing acceptance of the civil rights of women and gays. I am quite willing to admit Falwell and Robertson have the right to make any pronouncements they wish. They have a unique ability to talk with a foot in their mouth. But I'm unwilling to let others think that their voice is God's voice. God loves Falwell and Robertson in spite of their callous and outlandish views but I am not God! I have a hard enough time just tolerating them. People (Christians and Muslims alike) holding such views believe God controls and orders all the events of nature and history. The divine will is the causative factor in everything that takes place. They even set their explanations in the context of the punishment associated with Noah and the great flood. God punished folk for the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed the entire creation in order to start over. Noah and those gathered in the ark were chosen to survive so as to propagate earth. God, they contend, is acting in such a fashion now. But that isn't a satisfactory explanation. It complicates more than it answers. I like the phrase Bill Moyers used in his book Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times, namely, God prefers to be anonymous! I wouldn't blame God for embarrassment over the behavior of some of God's children. This view of the tsunami as punishment can't be squared with the vision of God as loving and nurturing, not hating and destroying. It ignores the possibility that there may be some connection between our refusal to take seriously changes precipitated by ozone depletion and rising temperatures and such phenomena as the tsunami, El Nino, monsoons and hurricanes. The blunt truth is that trying to explain just doesn't help. There is a better way. For me the better way is to reflect on the fact that this earth on which I find myself is to be treated with reverence. It's astounding power triggers a sense of awe and respect. Humans need to find ways to live that don't violate our habitat or tax the resources that should be shared with others whose needs for survival take priority over our desires to consume. I do believe that a source of strength to deal with tragedy is found in the utter conviction that beneath the surface of life's giant agonies isn't terror and emptiness but Holy Presence to companion us. Wrapped up in the stormy issues of our times, there is reason to focus on compassion for all those suffering, not punishment. What do you think? |