The Morning After
After a summer stormed rumbled through St. Louis last night we were left without power. Us and about 500,000 of our closest friends. Having spent the better part of the storm in our candlelit basement (nasty even in the flickering light), I was relieved to share an impromptu party on the back deck with my family. The air after a storm is always cooler and cleaner and last night was no exception. The open windows allowed enough airflow to get us comfortably through the unlit night and the power (and air conditioning) returned mercifully as the sun rose this morning. All is well. For us and about 100,000 of our closest friends.
But many hundreds of thousand St. Louisans are without power this morning. As the sun moves higher in the sky the temperatures (never mind the humidity!) are expected to top 100degrees. With our modern architecture dependent on central air, a black out can be more than an inconvenience. Houses built for energy efficiency (low ceilings and few windows) are disasters without electricity, and those most vulnerable will suffer.
While my ceiling fan moves the air around me, I ponder the plight of my city in the context of a world in crisis. Another day of fighting in Lebanon, another tsunami in the ‘ring of fire’, another debacle in our St. Louis Public Schools (the Board passed the “wrong” budget on Tuesday!?).
Compassion is the theme for the Sunday readings. With passion, shared emotion. A connection one with another that is rooted in the depth of our being.
What will compassion look like for the child in the city? Caught in a high rise during a heat wave and no electricity? Looking ahead to a school year filled with adults in crisis mode?
What is compassion between myself and the unnamed man in the news story from Indonesia? And what compassion is possible between my pacifist self, the marine, and the Lebanese child? As I sit in the comfort of my airconditioned space, lace curtain gently swaying, monitor responding to my every stroke?
These are the questions of the morning after…