Rainbows

I know that everything that can be said about Katrina probably already has, but I just want to iterate here my hopes that all of the images and stories will wake America up to the reality of the level of poverty that exists in America. Though often unseen, hidden, and (truthfully) ignored, poverty does exist in its most usual forms of powerlessness, hopelessness, and injustice; not only in New Orleans, but in cities, towns, and neighborhoods throughtout the United States. In a stark coincidence, the Census Bureau report on poverty in America was released shortly before the hurricane, and it reveals that nearly a third of Americans are currently living below the poverty line, and the majority are children.

Hopefully the rainbow that emerges from this terrible storm will be a new concern for the impoverished, a movement of turning away from ourselves and looking to the needs of others, and that, like with Noah after the flood, the rainbow will again be a covenant between God and his people. A new covenant with the poor and rich alike, that God will no longer tolerate apathy and self-interest among the people of his church. But that he will see that the first will become last and the last will become first. It is my real hope that the Church will lead in this effort, and embrace a re-examining of what it truly means to love our neighbors as ourselves.

For those that would like to, Sojourners has put up a pledge on-line that is a committment to build a new America, one where no one will be left behind. I know that pledges like these are often kind of cheesy, but I thought I would make it available.