Sandy Calls

Sandy bearing down on the Northeast

I had many thoughtful calls about Hurricane Sandy because I have a daughter in New York City and another in New York State.  Both, thankfully, escaped the worst of it, neither even experienced a power outage.  They had friends, of course, who did.  But inevitably, an avalanche of odd theological statements come forth.
Speculation on natural disasters are not, of course, new.  A few people said, “God is telling us something.”  Having been through a tornado that hit my church many years ago, I wince at such statements, especially since the tornado spared every part of our proposed expansion program and hit every part that we had not considered, namely the offices and the sanctuary, where it ripped a hole in the roof right over the pulpit, which a few sawdust trail preachers in town suggested was payback for our liberalism (we ordain women and are open to all races and do not marginalize divorced persons, and have practiced these ways since the 1970s).

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Love Lifted Me: a 9-11 Story

Sometimes hope only bubbles up in the small delicate places that are almost unnoticed among the debris of history  What do 9-11, a pregnant woman, an orphan immigrant from Burkina-Faso, and a store specializing in Afro-pop music have in common?   And on a day of such sadness, are there flickers of hope to fasten to? Sometimes hope only bubbles up in the small delicate places that are almost unnoticed among the debris of history and humanity’s terrible bent to self-destruction.  If we cannot always fathom the great purposes of God in the rumblings of nations and enemies, we can listen … Continue reading Love Lifted Me: a 9-11 Story

The Songs Remember When Part II by Gary Furr

…there are aspects of humanity that are not reducible to particles, chemicals and rational analysis. In my last post, I reflected on the interesting work of Oliver Sacks on memory.  A few further thoughts about the whole notion of science, faith, and humanity. Sacks has been criticized roundly for his “anecdotes” that don’t meet all the rigor of some scientific requirement, especially by the radical reductionists.  Some believe that  “there is no self or soul.  We are merely the product of our acculturated experiences and brain physiology and when it’s gone, so are we.” But there is something instinctive that … Continue reading The Songs Remember When Part II by Gary Furr

The Day Alabama Almost Died by Gary Furr Remembering April 27, 2011

Video still suspended on the internet, weathermen almost screaming fear and warning, Maps lit up with horrible storms, bright, rotating monsters And the skycams filming it Dark rumbling cone of cloud, wider and firmer, roaring down, Swallowing places we all recognized, this street corner, that road, this hospital and the University itself Gobbled into darkness We sat watching helplessly in what passes for our safe place Terrified for people we know and can’t call or get to Just sat there, watching, listening, praying in a basement or a closet Now it lives on YouTube and in children’s nightmares Fear comes … Continue reading The Day Alabama Almost Died by Gary Furr Remembering April 27, 2011

Whitney Houston and the Biggest Devil

Whitney Houston made your heart soar with that magnificent voice.  You kept hoping for her—so lovely, so achingly vulnerable, so fragile.  “Come on back, girl,” you hoped.   In the end, she didn’t.  There will be moralizing—drugs, bad choices, all the rest.  But such times are wrong for moral lessons.  There is a time to criticize, and a time to refrain from criticizing.  A time to learn a lesson, and a time to let the dead alone and mourn. The story of Whitney Houston makes me think how hard it is to care for one’s own soul when there are so … Continue reading Whitney Houston and the Biggest Devil