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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us September 3, 2005 'The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike' The devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina has me thinking back to Ashland’s New Year’s 1997 flood. Oh, I know, that was a walk in Lithia Park compared to what our southern brothers and sisters are going through right now. Word comes, as I write this, that thousands are feared dead. Few if any expected waters to rise like they have or to wreak such grave havoc. Born in St. Louis on the banks of the mighty and unpredictable Mississippi River, the poet T.S Eliot reflected on similar circumstances in his late work, “The Dry Salvages”: I do not know much about gods; but I think that the river is a strong brown god — sullen, untamed, and intractable, Patient to some degree, at first recognized as a frontier; useful, untrustworthy, as a conveyor of commerce; Then only a problem confronting the builder of bridges. The problem once solved, the brown god is almost forgotten By the dwellers of cities — ever, however, implacable, Keeping his seasons and rages, destroyer, reminder of what men choose to forget. Scott Delgarno What is it we have chosen to forget? What is it we need to remember? Perhaps we simply need to be reminded from time to time of what rivers and lakes are capable of when rising beyond arbitrary boundaries. They are intractable forces of nature, something bigger than we are, something so easy to forget when we are out for a little stroll in the park on a free afternoon. I remember the local police urging us to “stay away from the park and the plaza.” But who could stay away? Our eight-year-old, Margaret, had just had her tonsils out the day before the flood. We bundled her up and drove her down to see it all. “This is a river,” we said, “not just a little picturesque creek meant to impress tourists or to cool your feet in summer.” I remember a man at the Safeway making a church of the parking lot. “Nature is our mother,” he shouted, “and we have made our mother mad.” Sure, I thought, you cut down the rain forests and you’re asking for trouble, But it’s also true that there are natural cycles in nature. No matter how we behave toward the planet there will always be floods. They cleanse our rivers. They always have and always will. Floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, and the like remind us that we are just not in control of this world. Speaking of such disasters Jesus said: “The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike” (Matt. 5:45). Disasters are morally blind. The writer of Ecclesiastes put it this way: “For everything there is a season,” and, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl. 3:1, 1:9). We need to be reminded periodically of who we are and who we are not. Floods are particularly adept at convincing us that we are not God. We aren’t even the fully autonomous human beings that we’d like to think we are. Speaking to the question of personal autonomy the Vietnamese philosopher, Thich Nhat Hanh has said: “We are here to awaken from the illusion of our own separateness.” There you have the silver lining in the unrelenting rain cloud of natural disaster. Our little flood begat new community in this town in a way that is otherwise impossible. Fetching water, cleaning up, and comparing chemical toilets (remember?) related us to one another in wholly new ways; good ways, refreshing ways. Ashland, as we all know, is full of very rich and also very poor folks. Few know that 22% of the children here qualify for the federal free lunch program. We are a real mix! Yes, but down to Lithia Park we all trouped, some wearing holey tee shirts and others in Armani sneakers. Still, it was everyone together, lending a hand. What a remarkable leveler. The same thing is happening in New Orleans. “Acts of God” serve to remind us of the inescapable network of mutuality that is our life on this planet. Rich or poor, young or old, we share, as Martin Luther King Jr. said “a single garment of destiny.” I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict that the economic price tag that will accompany the rebuilding will call much into question in our country — questions about endless tax breaks for the wealthy and the escalating price of our current war are just going to get louder and louder. Louisiana governor, Kathleen Blanco said “This is a nightmare, but one that will give us an opportunity for rebirth.” It’s very painful when you consider the loss, but, in the grand scheme of things her words ring very true. Scott Dalgarno is pastor of Ashland’s First Presbyterian Church DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams