KATRINA! Such a CUTE name for something so nightmarishly DESTRUCTIVE. I was just thinking that these events can bring out the BEST in some folks, and the WORST in others.
In the hurricane aftermath, two things impressed me. The first was the OUTPOURING OF COMPASSION and generosity form the PRIVATE CITIZENRY. True COMPASSION is the product of INDIVIDUALS, NOT GOVERNMENTS… In the case of KATRINA, it was TREMENDOUS.
That which saddened me was the SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT to aid, help, and etc. on the part of a noticeable number of folks. That seemed to give birth to a SENSE OF INDIGNATION and ANGER that assistance wasn’t FAST ENOUGH in coming; and when it got there WASN’T BIG ENOUGH. If I had lived there, I might have exhibited the same. But I hope not.
Maybe it’s just SEMANTICS, but to me “ENTITLEMENT” carries with it a sense of “earning” something. I’m aware that laws can be enacted ENTITLING ANYBODY TO ANYTHING, but, in this case, I wish we could find another word to use. The word “WELFARE” comes to mind, but apparently that’s fallen into political disfavor.
It was the DEPRESSION years of the 30’s. I was about 11 years old. Mom and I had walked 10 blocks to a Brooklyn police station to get TWO BAGS OF COAL. We were “ENTITLED” to the coal because, although Dad worked on the WPA (pick and shovel), and Mom cleaned the halls of the three-story tenement we lived in, (to reduce rent) the family was still ON WELFARE. As we pulled a sled, coal on board, through the winter snow, Mom said, “We’re NOT DOING THIS MUCH LONGER. We’re GETTING OFF WELFARE as soon as we can.” After 65 years that memory is so vivid. No ANGER that more coal was not given. No INDIGNATION that she had to WALK A TOTAL OF 20 BLOCKS. I think she just was expressing an element of SHAME AND WOUNDED PRIDE.
And when it comes to GOD AND ENTITLEMENTS, we confess that we are ENTITLED only to PUNISHMENT, NOW AND FOREVER, because of our sins and offenses. But here’s the MYSTERY: It is only by the GRACE AND THE DEATH OF CHRIST, that we, the TOTALLY UN-ENTITLED, are given the ENTITLEMENT OF FORGIVENESS AND SALVATION.
So before God, there is NO ROOM for INDIGNATION, ANGER OR, for that matter, PRIDE… ONLY PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING that we’ve been rescued.