God Speed.

A hole in the roof of the Louisiana Superdome lets in a stream of light as children play on the field Tuesday, August 30, 2005, in New Orleans.

AP Photo:  John Rowland

***

I've had a hard day.  Imagine that.

After all, I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner today.  Lots of coffee too.  I was able to work and make some money.  My house is not leaking and I've got a nice warm bed to crawl into in a couple of hours.  Or I might stay up late and fall asleep on the couch.  I have options.  My family is safe and I know where each of them are at this very minute.  I can depend on tomorrow, as much as any person not facing imminent danger can.  And even if something happens, I can access at least $25 to escape if I have to.

But it's still been a hard day because my heart is so heavy.  My head is swimming with grief and worry and helplessness.

I just learned that Louisiana's governor declared today to be a day of prayer, and that's ok with me.

Right this minute, besides giving money to various charities, it truly is all we can do.

Anne Lammott has two favorite prayers.  The first one is:

"Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you." 

And the second, which is the prayer that I will say for the people down South tonight is:

"Help.  Help.  Help."

Amen.

Comments

[sexkitten]

That is an excellent picture.

[Viscount LaCarte]

When they tell you to pray, you know you are screwed. I am agnostic in the textbook sense, but my understanding is that you pray for strength and nothing else.

[Kevin Wolf]

What I don't like about it is the calling for prayer by public officials as if they are thereby fulfilling their civic duty.

Man, if I believed in prayer and was going through what they're experiencing down there, I wouldn't need a gubernatorial proclamation to start calling on God.

[yaya]

What a sight - My heart is heavy, very heavy as well....there is nothing else to say -

"While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. "

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.

GOD BLESS US ALL!!!!

[cali dem]

What I don't like about it is the calling for prayer by public officials as if they are thereby fulfilling their civic duty.

Posted by: Kevin Wolf | September 01, 2005

I don't like this either. To give the benefit of the doubt, politicians may just be overwhelmed like everyone and can think of nothing else to say. But, cynically, it seems like pandering to people's emotions so focus is away from asking "why" type questions.

[Stephanie]

I agree. Prayer is fine, whatever. But I don't think these trite calls for prayer should give politicians any credit as far as action goes. Action always speaks louder than words. Now stop praying and go help these people.

[HomefrontRadio]

Great post Blue Girl, the second paragraph was particularly humbling.

Praying seems pretty pointless to directly help people in trouble, since prayer didn't stop the hurricane from hitting in the first place, and since the usual religious reaction to this kind of thing is either "Why did God do this to us?" or "God is punishing the city for Some Ridiculous Reason".

How long until some out-of-touch religious leader blames 'moral decay' as the reason for the destruction?

The government should get off it's knees and help. ACT, don't Pray.

[cali dem]

(sorry, off topic)

blue girl -

just noticed you have a link to my blog...thank you!!!

[blue girl]

Cali Dem! You're welcome! You've got a great blog! The alaska gyrl link was awesome, I just haven't had the "oomph" to post about it yet...