Hurricanes: Where the Force of God Crashes with the Forces of Man

Police on guard at every gas station?  I think this is as horrible a vision as any left by the havoc hurricane Sandy wrought.  Have we become such an amoral, narcissistic, lawless society, that a short gas shortage reduces us to Dodge City?  Had it been a water or food shortage, would we have had to call in the National Guard to stop the looting?  Would we have had to board up our houses once again -- this time not from the fury of gale force winds, but from the fury of humans? 

The name Frankenstorm is beginning to fit. The human monster created by this disaster is terrifying.  What messages are the so-called adults of our communities sending out to our children?  Do we not teach them to share and wait their turn on line?  We tell them that bullying is wrong, but then show them, that it's OK for grown ups to bully each other.

Could we use this time on gas lines to listen to music, read a book, or play with our cell phones?  Could we use it as a moment to chat with our neighbors, who are also waiting on line?  What in the world has happened to people?  In the 1970s, when we had to wait on gas lines, we did it. We waited patiently, and back in the day, there were a lot less electronics to entertain us while we waited.

Long Island, in this day and age of news traveling at the speed of light, the world is watching us.  The phrase, "ugly American," is sadly ringing all too true. 

I am using poetic license and slightly changing J.F.K.'s infamous words: "Ask not what your county can do for you, ask what you can do for your county."

What about bullying an already stretched to the seams L.I.P.A?  They did not create this mess, and crews are working round the clock, doing the best they can to help.  Enough already with the hissy fits and throwing temper tantrums, while aiming missiles at our local and national government officials.  None of this is doing any of us any good. 

In Matthew 12:25, and later used in a speech by Lincoln, Jesus said, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand."  We, as a community, have to stand together.  We are all on the same team.  We are not an army of one, but a civilized society, that can overcome anything, when we come together as a loving unit.  But if we're going to fight each other like cats and dogs, we will all walk away more bruised and battered than before.

It will take the greatest minds of the 21st century, and the grace of God, for we, as a people, to figure our way out of the mess that our raping of the earth, and the resulting global warming have created. If we harness the good powers of the universe, we will find solutions and survive as a species.  We can choose to either rise to the occasion and use our higher consciousness -- Cosmic Consciousness -- harnessing the spark of God housed within us; or we can descend to our animal nature -- to the dog--eat-dog mentality, in which we behave like a pack of scavenging, wild dogs, reverting to our savage nature. 

We can rebuild together.  Each of us can help heal the earth and our towns using whatever God given gifts we have.  I am choosing to use my words to help soothe the tattered human spirit.  I envy those skilled enough to use their tools and skills to actually build or fix structures.  Whatever your job is, do it now as a labor of love.  As you stock the store shelves, bless the powers that be, for the abundance now being showered upon us.  Pick up the trash, cut the trees, teach your children well, whatever it is that you do, do it with consciousness that this world is built one brick, one word, one good deed at a time.  Never forget: the world as we know it can be more quickly and more easily destroyed with -- one gale force, one angry word, or with one push of a button.  We have always gotten by with a little help from our friends, and we have always depended upon the kindness of strangers. This is the way of the world.

We need a miracle right now.  Miracles are earned and then granted by the grace of God.  We can choose to be Scalawags or Carpetbagges, pirates or piranhas. We could also choose to be angels on earth, earning our wings -- one kind word word and deed at a time.

Greed breeds greed and kindness is contagious.  Do we want the world to remember Frankenstorm as the storm that dubbed Long Island, "Dodge Island?"

Godspeed, Long Island.