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By John T. Crestwell, Jr.
October 16, 2005
Sharon does not mind me saying
that she is not here today because she is recovering from a Tubal
Ligation. For those of you who are not familiar, this means the
Crestwell’s won’t be having any more babies (Amen). I love
children but as they say, “Three’s enough!” Now, some of you are
going to tease me and say, “Why didn’t you go in, it’s much easier
for men…” All I can say is, “I don’t want to go there—okay?”
The new procedure is amazing because they go in through your navel
and there is no scar just some soreness. Medical science is
advancing at a rapid pace indeed! Our choice to cut the reproductive
process is a classic example of an instance when humans DO have
control over a situation. This is also another case where science
helps to control a natural process that would wind up producing
child after child after child in a normal situation… There are some
things we can control and other things that scientific genius helps
us to control.
But in many, many other instances, we are at the mercy of
Gaia—Mother Earth. I remember saying to a friend, “There is certain
randomness in life. You know, stuff happens” (I didn’t say stuff to
him-- Amen). He didn’t like that. He said to me, “John, something
has to be in control. Something has to watch us. Something has to
protect us.”
This is a long term theological debate. I’ve mentioned the term
before, “theodicy” – God’s justice. God is in control. God watches
over me and helps me overcome the bad times… And no matter how bad
things get, God will have the last word because “unmerited suffering
is redemptive” in the end. When it’s all said and done, God’s
“justice will roll down like waters and God’s righteousness will
flow like a mighty stream!” This is powerful stuff when you believe
it. It carries many of us through some very difficult mountains in
life.
Except when really, really bad things happen and we don’t know where
God is. Heaven is silent. Those of you who are theists might cry out
in fear, “Why hast thou forsaken me!” “Where are you God?”
There are millions in the world asking these very questions and
millions in America too after Hurricane Katrina. She hit as a
category 5 and wreaked havoc upon the earth. Of course she formed
because of many factors, wind, hot air, cold air, etc… She formed
without an agenda. She formed the way a fetus forms, the way a
flower blooms, the way suns in the universe evolve. Katrina was
nothing more than the elements and in a morbidly beautiful kind of
way she came together and without an agenda began to teach humanity
many lessons. Well, I know I learned from her. She spoke to me from
the earth, sea and sky and spoke to me as a god speaking from the
heavens. I want to share a few of her lessons with you…
Katrina Lesson 1—YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL
As much as we can control a few things on this earth, humans are not
in control. This is why our ancient forbears, Homo erectus, the Homo
sapiens and the Homo sapiens sapiens would eventually, as they
evolved, create mythologies about God or the gods to help them
grapple with this insecurity of not being in control. This is why
we build houses to protect us from the elements—including other
humans. And we seem to hoard resources. It is our very primitive
fear of having a lack of control you see! So we struggle in this
life to find and hold on to things that give us meaning; and for
some, we believe things that may not be accurate because reality is
scary and so we create terms like “theodicy” (which may or may not
be true—I don’t know) but we create them basically so we can sleep
at night and function during the day. For if life were random how
would we live? That’s another sermon…
Katrina Lesson 2—WE ARE NOT MASTERS OF THE EARTH
Black Elk and Daniel Quinn in his book Ishmael said it best, “Humans
are not master of the earth; the earth is our master (repeat).
Somewhere in this evolutionary process we forgot this. Could our
highly developed consciousness really have us believe that we have
dominion over all? Do we really believe this? The fact is, if we
destroy the very environment we live in and cannot breathe this air
we breathe right now, or if we blow each other up with bombs because
we are acting out an eschatological (end times) mythology from
ancient books, then guess what? The earth will still be here. As
long as the sun shines, the earth will be here. But the earth does
not need human beings to survive. Human beings need the earth to
survive. So you tell me, who is the master?
Could it be that we as humans have very big egos in thinking we are
the be all and end all of existence?
Katrina Lesson 3-- I AM A STONE’S THROW FROM HAVING NOTHING
I sort of already knew this because I look at my checkbook every
week (hello). Katrina devastated the rich and poor. Although we saw
many, many poor affected, the storm was no respecter of persons.
Folk with wealth, lost all they had –although they will replace it.
The picture in my mind here are the images of all the people. Just a
week prior many of these folk were drinking latte’s, reading the
Wall Street Journal, shopping at the mall, driving fancy cars,
living the life; and a week later they are in shock as they sit on
the wreckage of their homes, picking through the pieces. And some
well-off folk looted too it wasn’t just the poor (say Amen Chalice).
You know something? WE ARE ALL just like they are, whether the
victims were Black, White, Hispanic or Asian. We are all a
catastrophe away from being homeless. That’s scary and I don’t mean
to scare you this morning but it is true. And so as it is said,
“There go I but for the grace of God”, but you could also say,
“There go I but by the luck of the draw”. And so, if life is that
fleeting and random somehow we need to get our priorities as a
country together which brings me to lesson 4.
Katrina Lesson 4-- THE PRIORITIES OF THIS NATION ARE SCREWED UP
I know you will agree with me when I say that this country let us
all down during the aftermath of Katrina. Perhaps it is our fault
for putting our hope of safety and security in the Governments
hands? But to me, it seemed we can get to Iraq much faster than we
got to New Orleans. Correct me if I am wrong but didn’t it seem like
people suffered way to long before local and federal help arrived?
Did you not feel as if you were watching the news of another
country? I said to myself: “This can’t be America?” This could not
be our country that has spent billions in Homeland Security to make
us REALLL safe! You know, I’ve got a funny story… I called the
Prince George’s County Homeland Security Office for my radio show
before the Hurricane and don’t you know no one answered the phone
and the voicemail said, “This voicemail has not been set up.” That
tells the entire story!! The Homeland Security in this country “has
not been set up” effectively either. Something is wrong in this
nation when it comes to prioritizing people over products; it always
seems to me the product comes first. But Louis Farrakhan said it
well at the Millions More Movement Saturday…. That in our
constitution, it says that if the government leaders are not
implementing laws and systems that are “for the people and by the
people”—things that lift people up, then as a US citizen, we have
the right to replace the incompetent folk—remove them from office
and place new leaders in charge who represent the will of the
people”. It’s right there in the constitution. Go read it. Easier
said than done…. But this moves me to Katrina lesson #5.
THE ONLY THING I CAN CONTROL ARE MY HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS!
I could spend my life trying to gather as many goodies as I can; to
get the most toys; work tirelessly to have the most money hoping
that all of this will make me feel in control and safe. I could
spend time raping the earth of its natural vitality for personal
wealth not knowing how this could affect my children’s ability to
live on this planet in the future. I could be a busy little bee,
working Monday through Friday so I can find or purchase things to
hold on to. Things that give me meaning and purpose. All of this
comes and goes…
But what does not come and go is my “sameness” with other human
beings. As long as there are humans a part of me lives… When I see
you, I see myself. If I know myself at the core of who I am—If I am
honest with myself, I know I am as virtuous and vicious as the next
person… I’m not better than you. But, if I know myself, then I know
all human beings. We all want the same things out of life basically.
And if I know this then I can create something much more lasting
than a material possession. I can create mutuality in the human
spirit that will live on long after I’m gone. I can create a just
society that my children will benefit from.
Look at the billions raised for the victims of Katrina. People from
the president to a pauper for once, saw human beings—not as Black or
White but as suffering people. We saw ourselves didn’t we—a stone’s
throw away from where they were... And we realized we could not say
that we were “blessed” because that was the wrong word, implying
that others are cursed. No, no. WE SAW OURSELVES. Amen to that.
Thank you Katrina for helping us to see ourselves! Life victimizes
all at some point! But we share that mutuality with others and it is
because of that, that I know that Mother Earth, not human beings,
teaches the ultimate lessons of sharing and caring. She sends the
rain and the winds and the fires and all the elements and they
remind us that life is short! Why am I not living today? Why am I
not doing something significant for others? Why am I wasting time
hating, hoarding resources, fighting wars, dropping bombs on people,
religiously persecuting folk; hating people because of their
sexuality? Why am I wasting time Mother Earth, allowing poverty and
mis-education to exist? If all I have are my human relationships and
“we are all connected in mystery and miracle to each other” then why
am I wasting time Mother Earth listening to the profits in my pocket
and not the prophets you send generation after generation who show
us how to make straight the path for justice? Why are we not
listening? Mother Earth teach me!
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