Knox Presbyterian Church

As many of you know, I lived in New Orleans for nine years prior to moving to Iowa to attend seminary in Dubuque. To be sure, Louisiana was a difficult and trying place to live, but it’s the first place that truly became ‘home’ to me beyond where I grew up in Wisconsin.

As a former resident of one our country’s most unique cities, my heart and spirit were saddened in the fall of 2005 when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf coast, broke through the levees, and submerged 80% of that city with dark, murky flood waters.

By all accounts, New Orleans and the Louisiana Gulf coast were just beginning to get their groove back. Things were beginning to take a turn even before this winter when many of us celebrated an unlikely and incredible victory by the New Orleans Saints in their first ever Super Bowl.

But now the Gulf Coast has suffered another severe blow, and many wonder if things can ever be the same again. The Rev. Carol Howard Merritt, a friend of mine, who also lived for some time in Louisiana, wrote these words about recent events on the Huffington Post website:

Looking at those white graceful egrets covered in slick, black oil reminds me of what we have done. There is something majestic hidden in that marshland, something that we have destroyed. In many ways, our soul lives there, and it is irreparably damaged.

As we struggle to stop the oil from spewing into the Gulf, it will be a task on which every brilliant mind in our country needs to concentrate. As soon as that fatal flow stops and we begin to collect the bodies of the dead wildlife and fish, when we attempt to clean up this disaster, we will have to reflect on our own spirits and our addiction to oil.

Why, when we know how much damage our dependence on petroleum causes our earth, do we not concentrate more creativity on developing other means of energy? Why, when we realize that the rapid urbanization of China and India will be an increased strain on our global resources, are we not figuring out ways to drastically reduce our reliance on fossil fuels?

Crying out “Drill, baby, drill” in this phase of our history feels to me like begging “More cigarettes, please!” while dying of lung cancer. And like every addiction, it is a reminder that we will need to find physical, as well as spiritual, solutions to our problems. We can no longer neglect our soul.

Friends, these are complicated and trying days. The solutions to the problems we face are not easy nor are they readily apparent. If I am honest, I’m not even sure that our government & political leaders have what it takes to lead us through them.

For the time being, though, we can pray for the communities all along the Gulf Coast struggling for their very life and well being as a result of this disaster. We can pray for efforts to stop the spill and to clean up after it.

I might suggest, also, that we can evaluate and begin to change our own consumption of oil and oil-based products (think about how much plastic we use in any given day!) And, we can pray for and push our leaders to begin to make the changes we need to make to ensure our world will be a better place for our children and our grandchildren.

It’s hard work, but as Carol suggests, it’s important work. We can no longer neglect our soul.