I haven’t written about the Katrina disaster until now because I am literally heartsick…. even today, there are people stuck in their own attics in unbearable heat, hoping to be rescued. Thousands are trapped in desperate circumstances. Each hour that passes, more die. Disease for the living is surely next. Blessed are the least of these.

Heaven help the survivors of the Katrina disaster. And heaven hold each compassionate heart that chooses to be transformed by the images of this unfolding disaster as we all wonder “is this America?” Yes, it is America, where we must not blame the poor, mostly black, survivors who have been herded into concentration camps and left for days in squalor and filth. They did not choose to stay: they did not have the means to leave. The Red Cross was not allowed into the city to help. Dear God.

Another good read is this blog entry. I couldn’t have put it better myself.

I wish that this disaster had never befallen these people whose only crime was being poor and living in our beloved city of New Orleans. I wish we the people could wake up to the disaster that has taken hold of what once was our civil society–that we are no longer being governed, we are being looted by those who cultivate the basest of our nature. Or are we too busy buying big screen televisions that we haven’t noticed what we have become?

And If I hear a news pundit say “those who chose not to evacuate” one more time, I will lose my lunch.

Please consider donating to Veteren’s for Peace a group that is on-the-ground in Louisiana helping these people.

My final prayer this day: may we collectively and culturally experience the transformation of soul that this event evokes in us. We will need great strength, courage and fortitude for the journey ahead if we are to reclaim our noble humanity.