Katrina: Is anyone feeling guilty?

[LadyEagle]

Is anyone else feeling guilty for being so blessed when other Americans are suffering and have lost everything right now?

I must confess that I do. It has been difficult for my family to go about our usual routines of daily life without the constant thoughts about those poor victims of the hurricane and/or flood, losing everything.

We are planning to a family get together today for Labor Day, like we do on most holidays, and yet, the joy that normally surrounds those occasions is clouded by the pictures of human misery and suffering we've seen on television this week. We aren't eating steaks or doing anything fancy, but even hot dogs and hamburgers seems extravagant NOW. Even having clean water seems extravagant NOW.

Yes, we are giving aid to victims, but that seems inadequate. We always make a point to help the needy, even when there isn't a national tragedy going on.

We are always thankful for our food and all of God's blessings on our family, our home, our health, our material goods, for His provisions, and His protection, and His answers to prayer. We are so blessed! And we are keenly aware that ALL we have has come from the Goodness of His Hand.

But it is hard to not feel guilty while others are suffering and in such need.

Just wondered if I'm the only one on the BB who is experiencing similar feelings through this national tragedy?

Lady Eagle

 

[just-want-peace]

I've had prostate cancer, heart attack, and double bypass!

I NEVER, NEVER, felt that I was being short-changed or mad because I had these problems when none of my close friends did not.

God made those decisions and I was perfectly comfortable with them since I know He is in control.

By the same token, I had NOTHING to do with the Katrina disaster, and therefore have no misgivings about my family being safe just because others are not. Again, God is the decider of these things.

To feel guilty about something you had absolutely no input into, is in MHO, a tactic from satan to disrupt your life.

Guilt from God is designed to lead you to repentance, not just feeling guilty for guilt's sake, and you can't repent of something you had no association with.

 

[LadyEagle]

Interesting thoughts - thank you for posting them.

It is true, I have had a lot of tragedy & health issues in my life while others have always seemed to fall into roses. But God has always brought me through.

So maybe the guilty feelings really ARE satanic attacks, designed to rob me of the joy of God's blessings.

 

[DHK]

It is always more difficult to cope with a situation when they are near to it, as you are. The seemingly magnitude of this disaster is only great because: one, it is happening to a western civilized nation, and the richest one at that, and two, because it has 24 hour a day media coverage.
The further away a person is from the tragedy the less one is involved with it emotionally. The only people I know there are the ones that are mentioned on BB, and those I have never met in person.

One should realize that tragedies of this sort happen to other countries on a yearly basis. Every year Bangeldesh is hit by a cyclone during its monsoon season and leaves many missing, dead, and thousands homeless. The extent of the damage done there is just as great as Katrina, and it happens every year. Arent' their lives just as precious in the sight of the Lord as American lives?
The same monsoons hit India and Pakistan where hundreds and sometimes thousands of lives are lost, mulitiplied others go homeless. It is a yearly common occurence that warrants maybe a 60 second clip on the news. People all over this world suffer in the same way that those in wake of Katrina suffer. We just don't hear of it much.

I pray for the victims of the Katrina tragedy, that the Lord will provide for their various needs: both physical, spiritual, and otherwise. But I try not to forget other nations that are in desperate need as well.
DHK

 

[LadyEagle]

People all over this world suffer in the same way that those in wake of Katrina suffer. We just don't hear of it much.

You are right. Things might get a brief mention on the nightly news unless they are of the catastrophic proportions of the tsunami.

A friend I corresepond with in India (never met her) was telling of the monsoons there. In a regular monsoon season, thousands of people die every year from flash floods.

We aren't used to catastrophic things happening in America. And hurricane season is just beginning.

 

[Chemnitz]

I do not feel guilty for all the blessings I have received in the face of their tragedy. But I do feel great compassion for the people who have lost so much. I look at it this way, because of the blessings I have received I will be able to help out the people who are suffering.

 

[Jim1999]

The Lord is good ALL the time, even when times seem bad. There is no question that the folk in the South are suffering great loss. Something we find difficult to fathom. We did not cause it and therefore should feel no guilt. We are doing what we can to help, and that should make us feel good. Perhaps these events help us to realize that the gospel goes beyond the salvation message, and that we are our brother's keeper. We do have social responsibility.

We do look at such events differently. For example, everyone is focused on the people. I am an animal lover, and take seriously the responsibility God gave us in creation; dominion (responsibility) over the animals, and I see all the poor pets left to die on roof tops. My heart is broken. Humans can make certain choices, but the animals are at our mercy.

The best of these situations is that people do respond, and I hear the common person even in my own village showing compassion for a people they may never meet. Even our corner store has a jar for cash donations to go to the Canadian Red Cross for the South. Does God allow these tragic events to wake people up? I wonder.

God bless those in dire straights at this moment.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[LadyEagle]

...and I see all the poor pets left to die on roof tops. My heart is broken. Humans can make certain choices, but the animals are at our mercy.

Brother Jim, I, too have a heart for God's creatures. Here's an organization shown on cable news, rescuing dogs and cats left in the Disaster area - so I looked them up on line.

They said they are continuing the legacy of Noah in rescuing animals, and I thought that was neat. God must care about animals, too, cause He did instruct Noah to include them in the ark. And He sees each sparrow that falls.

http://www.noahswish.org/

 

[Jim1999]

LadyEagle,

There was the story on the news last night of a physician who stayed behind to mind the pets left by their owners. He promised the owners not to leave their pets alone to die, and he did stay with them. The pets were rescued and returned to their owners.

I see that the Humane Society have moved in now and people are taking their pets on the bus with them. Perhaps enough people cried "fowl".

Cheers,

Jim

Once a year, in the Anglican Church, we have a bless the pets service, where people bring their pets to church and we offer special prayers in their behalf.

 

[LadyEagle]

Some people probably stayed behind because they didn't want to leave their pets. I'm glad people can take them with them now.

Yesterday, I saw video of 5 dogs and a cat on a rooftop and they were being rescued. Imagine, 5 dogs and a cat and they were so scared, so hungry, THEY even got along! The poor things.

 

[Jim1999]

On the human side, we just heard that 18 families from La have been brought to Ontario to live with families here and go to school free of charge. Funds are being provided to help the adoptive families buy clothing, food, etc...Normally, non-residents would pay up to ten thousand dollars to attend school here.

People are helping all over.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[billwald]

Guilty for being born in the best times and place for the working class since history began?

Nothing bad ever happened to me that wasn't my own fault. I never wanted to live below sea level. If Mt Rainier should blow I won't complain on line. My problem will still be my fault for choosing to live here. Better 50 years in Seattle than 100 years in Pheonix.

 

[billwald]

I do know how to spell "Phoenex."

 

[Marcia]

Originally posted by LadyEagle:
Some people probably stayed behind because they didn't want to leave their pets. I'm glad people can take them with them now.

Yesterday, I saw video of 5 dogs and a cat on a rooftop and they were being rescued. Imagine, 5 dogs and a cat and they were so scared, so hungry, THEY even got along! The poor things.

LE and Jim, I share your feelings for the animals!

I did hear that many stayed behind because they did not want to leave their pets. They should have let them, when possible, take their pets and they would have rescued more people.

I am glad they are letting rescued people bring their pets with them now.