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Looking for peace in tragedy

September

Rachel Zoll of the Associated Press reported some comments made by those affected
by Hurricane Katrina:
"After the storm that destroyed everything, there was little else to do but pray."
"Ida Punzo, who survived the storm in her 130-year-old home in Biloxi, Mississippi,
said, 'This place is held together with God's spit.'"
"William Lawrence, dean of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist
University in Dallas, said that faith should be a comfort to the survivors not a tool for
doomsday thinking."
Why do we, as humans, tend to look on the dark side of things? The popular tabloids
in the grocery stores continue to print every detail, week after week, about the tragedies
in people's lives, for they are aware: "the buyers want to know." Some of the media is
flooding us with images of continuing horror, which can lead to fatigue, sadness, anger
and outrage, fear for the survivors and fear of rising costs falling back on us, says Owings
Mills counselor Harry Olson.
Yet we are like rubberneckers slowing down on the highway to get a glimpse of an
accident, to see someone in distress. We are drawn in by the drama on television like the
bug to the light bulb. Yes, there is horror going on, but there is also goodness going on:
people sharing their resources, helping one another. And what about the thousand or
more people who are donating their time, skills and financial resources to assist those
who have been affected by Katrina.
With our bad attitudes, anger looms about the incompetence and outrageous things
that are going on in an already trying post-hurricane situation. This "stinkin' thinkin'" will
only increase our blood pressure. It will not help those in distress. It will only cause us
distress.
What a surprise I had when I read advice that is given to Chinese students at Fudan
University, Shanghai, about stress. How similar it is to our U.S. way of thinking
regarding attitude: "You cannot control the disaster fallen on you, but you can dominate
your opinion on attitude towards it So when faced with the pressure, you must: Prevent
the pressure from controlling foil and keep optimistic is a key to control it. And we
should regard the frustration as the stimulus. Don't fall in the habit to think negatively"
(translated from Chinese to English).
Calming down and helping In God's way through love, giving and caring, rejoicing
with those who have received miracles and being thankful with those who have been
rescued through perilous conditions will bring us peacefulness. Serving with gratitude to
those in need and being grateful that we can help others, that we have been blessed with
resources, is a joy unparalleled.
"And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may 'prove' what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
Romans 12:2 (King James Version).

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