“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Matt. 25:40
I’ve been offline for most of this week because I was attending a business convention in New Orleans.
The good news is that the tourist areas are vibrant and as I left for the airport this morning, there was a rush hour traffic jam of folks going to work in the other direction. I also met some wonderful people on the trip down who are volunteering their time to help people in New Orleans rebuild their homes. If I met three people (one from Michigan and two from California) in one day on one trip, I can only extrapolate that there is a huge outpouring of help coming from all over the country.
Churches are organizing these events. The person from Michigan was on his third trip. You don’t read a lot about this in the paper or see much of it in the news, but these people aren’t out to make headlines. They are out to help those in need because they are selflessly responding to Jesus’ call. They are helping New Orleans and the Gulf states rebuild one home at a time.
The bad news is that even eighteen months after the storm and levee break, the level of devastation in New Orleans is still shocking. The President flew into town just as I was leaving, but there is still so much that needs to be done, that I’m surprised he didn’t just apologize to everyone he met. The locals told me that the only progress being made is from the volunteer groups that I spoke of. The federal, state, and local governments still can’t figure out what to do.
Regardless of your politics or your personal values, New Orleans is a great city full of spirited independent people. They have rich cultural traditions that go well beyond Mardi Gras and great restaurants. It is a city of artists and musicians. It is a city of beautiful old homes and wide boulevards. It is also a city in serious economic trouble. It is a city where the rich have returned, the poor couldn’t afford to leave, and the middle class have moved away. It is a city that appears to be sustaining itself on tourism and colleges.
It is also a sobering demonstration of how fragile and interdependent human economic structures really are. People need safe places to live, work, and raise their families. When those erode, people are forced into more and more desperate circumstances. Those that could afford to leave, have and they took their small businesses, trade skills, jobs, services, and money with them. Those that can’t look for whatever help they can find, and some satisfy their needs by turning to crime. We saw it in Detroit, we’re seeing it in New Orleans, and we’re seeing an extreme form of it in Iraq.
I’m sure New Orleans will recover, but the real criminals are those in our government who are failing these least of our brothers in their time of greatest need. I don’t know how or when these particular people will be judged, but I do know that they will be held accountable.
“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Titus 1:16