Do You Remember Where You Were When the Levees Broke?

I haven't blogged in a minute--I've been going through some things that have snatched my focus. Excuse me, that I've allowed to snatch my focus. When I thought I was ready to write, I couldn't think of anything to write about. I don't claim to be a writer but, if I were, you might call what I had writer's block.

Then I found this delightful man, Brad Bechler on Twitter , who wrote a book about Hurricane Katrina. (Kind of a reminder that there's always someone that has it worse than you do.) His book is called "When Will the Sky Fall?". I haven't read it yet, but if it's anything like his tweets, I'm sure it will be an enlightening read.

This week is the fourth anniversary of the hurricane that made history. Where the media desensitizes us to tragedies and horrific catastrophies by dehumanizing them and making them appear commonplace (you know the media CHOOSES what they report), the effects of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina remain to this day.

Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke" puts a most human face on the tragedy that occurred August 29, 2005. Mr. Lee is a master documentarian and this piece is nothing short of mesmerizing. It is a much needed, must-see "look at a community that has been through hell and back, surviving death, devastation and disease at every turn".
I hope you've seen it.

The effects of Katrina were far reaching--I remember new members of our congregation became new members because they had been displaced by the storm. I live in New Jersey.
The Coast Guard, the National Guard, volunteer organizations were stretched by rescue efforts.
The world watched, and ridiculed, our government's stunted response to one of the worst natural disasters in our nation's history.
(Not to go THERE but even the most *weatherly* challenged know that a Category 5 hurricane is going to require more than a little bit of attention--even in the best of circumstances.)
And finally, people from all over banded together to help a devastated region & people resume some sort of semblance of a life.

Amidst their tragedy, the people of the bayou go on. My heart goes out to the people of New Orleans and everyone else affected, still.
Sometimes you just have to get over your sweet self and put things into perspective in order to get things done.
I'm glad I am able to write again. :) Feel free to share your thoughts!