Ponderings

It’s Tuesday evening, August 29th and I just read a CNN Breaking News bulletin that Hurricane Ernesto is no longer a threat to Florida coastal areas. Residents further west on the Gulf are still bracing themselves.

Ernesto seems to be the first hurricane of this season that threatens the people and property covered by the major news networks. At this point last year we had already been pummeled by Ivan which proved to be merely a precursor to Katrina. And the hurricane count of last year actually paled in comparison to the Tsunami that will define our generation followed by a litany of heart numbing natural disasters around the globe.

Quite frankly, it’s been a quiet year. Maybe Al was wrong about global warming? Maybe last year’s relentless crises were indeed coincidental. Maybe the truth is not as inconvenient as we fear. And maybe the Alaska pipeline isn’t really leaking.

In this year of relative calm it is so very tempting to return our heads and hearts to the safety of the sand, but even with our eyes closed we can still see the haunting faces trapped without food and water in New Orleans. By day we try to banish these memories, but by night the spirit brings them back into our hearts.

Now is the time we need to remember. Now in a year with relative calm. Now is the time to not only remember but to learn; to learn the lessons of vulnerability and compassion. Now is the time to learn the truth of our greed, the destruction wrought on the most vulnerable people and ecosystems.

Now is the time, because already another hurricane has been named and this window is brief.