Insights in Meaning From Sandy
Before the Storm
On Monday October 29, 2012, the entire Northeast braced for a hurricane named Sandy a storm that promised to be about as bad as any in recorded weather history for that region. It had many features that made it particularly powerful in its impact on shore lines and even rivers a hundred or more miles from the Atlantic coast. Its landfall lined up almost perfectly with the full moon cycle (higher high tides), its winds were plenty strong and capable enough to do plenty of damage on their own and a separate weather front was approaching from the west to create a very volatile mix that is rarely seen. Few of us really had a clear understanding of what a storm of this type was capable of.
I like many other New Yorkers I made the necessary preparations, purchasing food, ice, gas for the car, putting away lawn furniture etc. and waded out that Sunday night hoping for the best. Only twelve hours before the expected landfall of hurricane Sandy the family pet became ill and catatonic resulting in a necessary emergency visit to the only twenty four hour vet for miles. After the visit, on the way back home with medication in hand I became very cognizant of just how fragile life is. On Monday the family sat and watched a movie while the wind whipped around the house as we waited and hoped that by some slim chance the meteorological models would be inaccurate and the weather forecast not fulfill the predicted scenarios. As Sandy made landfall in central Jersey the winds raged on and we lost our power. Having no access to news we did everything through our smart-phones and using our cars for contingency recharging.
Perhaps the best we could do is be aware of every possible scenario and just hope and do our best to be prepared for the worst. In the meantime I felt that this would be a lesson of sorts for my twelve year old son, IN understanding the importance of heeding warnings and respect the fact that we are in no way invulnerable to catastrophe.
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Most live as if we will never be confronted by tragedy or the unexpected. However, we should always be aware that at any time we may very well come face to face with a life changing episode that will dramatically alter and undo everything we have planned and worked for. How we prepare for that day is largely dependent on our values, what we perceive as important and what we believe our purpose or meaning for living is.
“Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny.”
― C.S. Lewis
When Reality Strikes - Shock
On Tuesday we discovered that the storm did in fact follow its projected course leaving the communities close to the ocean or rivers in N.J., N.Y., and Connecticut devastated by destruction. In all it is believed that at least a hundred or more people in the North East had lost their lives, thousands of homes destroyed, tens of billions of dollars in damage and the often unidentified psychological hurt and stress that such a mega-event like this causes. Like the events of Katrina, the terror attacks of 9-11, many watched T.V, spoke to friends and monitored the internet for any information concerning the level of devastation that some experienced. In the wake of episodes like Sandy or 9-11, many become consumed by feelings of dread, confusion, denial or even anger typically arise in one form or another. Perhaps, most significant or inevitable of all words or thoughts to arise is the question of ‘why?”. How could such a thing as this happen particularly to those who perhaps had no opportunity or choice in avoiding such a fate? Victims such as infants and young children. How could the same profoundly finely-tuned laws and forces of nature, we tend to look upon with a sense of wonder & awe, so overwhelmingly conspire to overpower the fragile lives of the defenseless?
Many verbally speak the words, while others, internally ask; God why?
Tuesday afternoon, my brother in law and I,jumped in the car and drove to Midland Beach Staten Island to see how our friends were doing. For hours they pumped water out of their homes becoming more aware of how uncomfortable life would become for their children without electric, heat, hot water and even normal access to food and a bathroom for days. We assured them they would have a place to stay. That night I picked up the family and their dog to stay with the pastor’s family.
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The great insight we can all glean from episodes like Sandy and perhaps one that should be blatantly simple but is unfortunately easily forgotten; the importance of family, community (church, humanitarian organizations) and friendship. Often the dominant presence of these crucial human institutions can make the difference between a miserable existence and a bearable one.
The priority of a Life of love and love of life
“Most human beings behave as if death were an unfounded rumor.” Aldous Huxley
In N.Y.P.D our motto was "safety first!", or, the most important thing is "getting home at the end of the day", was what we repeated at the onset of our training n the academy to our final day of patrol. We would often considers and declare of the dangers that our work and our duties would impose on us telling "war stories" perhaps with the unconscious goal of awakening the understanding that we never know what life can throw at us. Simply put and often said in the law enforcement community, "sh** happens"! However, this is in no way isolated to the career of law enforcement. Every life is threatened with the possibility that at any moment events could suddenly take a turn unexpectedly for the worse. Even those who consider themselves completely autonomous without need of assistance or human support, often, without warning, find themselves thrust into the humblest position, a situation in which help is not an option. In the military there is a motto that goes as so; "there are no atheists in the foxhole". The fundamental truth being that when there is no hope our most natural and rational response is to reach beyond ourselves. In the most dire circumstances to God.
One might be led to ask how does this happen? How and why, do events conspire to endanger our way of life if not our very existence? These are not questions that most of us feel we can adequately answer. So we get on with life. Those of us who understand how fragile life always try to be conscious of the fact that our first priority should always be our the safety of loved ones and in particular those who cannot or are not capable of fending for themselves. We should at all costs seek to help those who have become overwhelmed in crisis.
Some would be led to believe that this is exclusively for the purpose of reversing or overcoming the immediate consequences of the event. However, sometimes there is no way to completely restore what is lost.
For many the assurance that there are those who will risk their own safety for their safety and even comfort can make the difference between trying and giving up.
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When all else fails and the unimaginable happens, and the tipping point goes beyond turning back, often all that is left or important is a life of love and love for life.
It is in this that many have found hope and the strength to go on.
Our life on the curb
I took this picture
while helping friends
no staging
By Wednesday those who had not lost their homes, to a level of destruction that made it possible to consider restoration, began the process of removal of anything exposed to the salty ocean water. Driving through the communities struck the hardest one would find almost the entire floor of a home’s contents on the curbside waiting to be carted away by the sanitation department. Couches, Televisions, family entertainment centers, carpeting, mattresses, stoves, refrigerators, toys, pictures and even a large family portrait would be a short list of what one would see piled as high as six feet. As I passed by in my car I would repeatedly see groups of people carrying out all this stuff or in one case I observed an elderly couple walking in and out with small handfuls of their life’s belongings and treasures.
I think many of us after several generations of growing affluence and increasing wealth have begun to recognize the bondage that possessions can inflict on America culturally. Beyond a doubt the excesses are clear when we consider the amount of 'stuff' and unnecessary amount of importance and status we esteem our acquisitions. People have been killed on lines on black Friday at shopping centers, young people killed for an I-phone and marriages end in stress over finances and how to manage and pay for stuff & material things. Though this is obvious to many there is another dimension to the role that our 'earthly possessions' plays in our lives. When I looked at those couches, televisions, and DVD's piled in the streets for trucks to haul off, I thought of the many hours my family spends together enjoying a movie, the history or science channel a Disney or action movie. Many times I feel I can take refuge to my home, my family room or dining room to relax from my labor. Many holidays and special occasions our home is used to get family and friends together. When we really consider it carefully it is our homes and things or stuff that helps the entire process living and celebrating life along.
When we acknowledge the riches and importance of ownership and the many blessings of our own lives we should be compelled to assist those who suddenly and without fault of their own find themselves without., Even if in the grand scheme of things these possessions do not make a significant contribution to our pursuit of meaning it should be a natural consequence of our love for others to inspire us to help and restore their losses and get back to a 'normal' life.
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Life is much more important than our possessions.
However, we should never forget our privileged status and be thankful for our wealth understanding how its presence enriches our lives. With this in mind we should always seek to immediately assist those who suddenly find themselves without.
When Rescuers leave friends and family stay
I was an emergency responder. I was often the first at the scene of a horrific car accident, a robbery, assault; I delivered a baby on a train station in Brooklyn and occasionally beat the fire department to a fire and was a first responder to the attacks on 9-11-01.
In the wake of such incidents as hurricane Sandy we can become inundated by photos and videos of incredible bravery and selflessness on the part of emergency responders and good Samaritans.
In every sense these individuals are truly heroes as opposed to the fake superman types that Hollywood manufactures along with Hollywood & music stars and let’s not forget our deified athletes in professional sports . In my humble opinion these are the men and women that our young people should hold in esteem and model their lives after.
However, in all these stories there is another, perhaps deeper, human dimension that often gets overlooked. That is the importance of the role of family and friends and even strangers in the days weeks and even months that follow an incident like Sandy. The many who feel compelled to sacrifice their time and effort for the sake of helping and restoring the lives of those who simply do not have the resources or strength to go on. This is certainly, in the long run, what really makes a difference. This type of investment really amounts to much, much more than the enormous task of even material restoration. It is the emotional support and investment of time to bring back lives and families to a sense of normality. For the victim it gives the confidence that they are not building a future on sand but have the support of a foundation that is solid as a result of relationships and the energy that it takes to carry through with such a restoration. However, the benefit of these relationships, some even newly found, are not just beneficial for the victims. For those who feel called to serve and help it deepens their own appreciation of their own fortunate state, it deepens their understanding of the souls they share their world with, it refocuses their attention on what is truly important giving life a much deeper sense of meaning and a model to lead lives that led by a sense purpose rather than mediocrity. Most of all it builds a core emotional and 'spiritual' character in their lives that has long been identified as the most fundamentally important experience of being human, the experience of Love.
Perhaps the greatest investment we can make in the life of a friend or family is our time, energy and the building of their
assurance that we are all in this together for the long haul.
Sandy and the big picture
For those of us who see the laws of nature, and elegance in the design of creation, and the possibility or strong belief in the existence of a designer, a God who loves his creation and humans in particular historical episodes such as hurricane Sandy poses an enormous problem. Stated plainly this dilemma could be put forth in the question that is thousands of years old; “how could an all-powerful, all knowing, God of love allow this to happen and in particular to the innocent who, appear to be, only deserving of mercy?” I consider myself to be a believer. In my many years of study I have a pretty strong degree of certainty and solid evidence for the existence of God both scientifically and spiritually. Because I tend to instinctively lean a little more strongly to being skeptical, overly religious or unqualified explanations and declarations generally do not sit with me. I generally like a little proof with a claim. However, I can honestly say, that I have in a very real way experienced what can in no other way be explained as anything other than transcendent. In the big picture, I do believe creation and humankind has a purpose and everything seems, (as much as I can understand) work together for good. Yet some questions linger with a sense of being unresolved. Questions like how does something like hurricane Sandy and the untimely loss of life fit into that purpose?
I would like to cautiously offer an observation or insight that may help those of us who struggle deeply with the question of ‘why?’ The question of, why do such things as a hurricane, earthquake, tsunamis, plague and starvation so typical of the human experience and history? Without invoking a patently simple and profoundly insensitive theological notion as; “God causes or allows such things to punish us for straying from Him” I would humbly offer at the very least how these horrible occurrences might offer an easily unnoticed benefit Perhaps this is a difficult question or thought to comprehend, but consider what our world would be like without these terrible and undesireous occurrences? A world in which our only concern was to get as much pleasure out of life as is possible with absolutely no threat of change, no challenge to our aspirations and dreams, no recognition that our relatively overly comfortable lives might be interrupted. Just consider the hard work and sacrifice it takes on the part of everyone to collectively make our world a better, safer place for our children and their children to live in. A world in which we would have no way to measure the goodness of our own state, our ow lot in life, compared to others and had absolutely no appreciation for how truly fortunate we are. Perhaps most importantly of all, if those of us who relatively speaking really well off, are not confronted with the importance of family, community and friendship, with giving to those who suddenly find themselves in peril? What is the future of the nation that has so much wealth, and what does the question of meaning come to imply in the collective sense?
Does our purpose become just the daily repetition of working for things and comforts and keeping up with the status quo an existence void of deeper personal connection to others? There is something about humans.
We almost always embrace the norm, what we are familiar with day in and day out. This is not entirely bad though many of us do come to think that 'it' life, is about the job, the house, the car, and all the stuff. When something like Sandy or 9-11 comes along we are reminded that life is not really about all the stuff. Some will recognize that it is about helping and sacrificing our time and energy not just because it is the right thing to do but perhaps because we know that in making these sacrifices we are reinforcing that very important sense of purpose in our own lives.
I was a police officer in NYC, I have worked in clubs, on a college campus on the Jersey shore. I can tell you that many in this generation care about nothing other than themselves. having a good time, what they wear and how much money they have for the next party. I want to make this clear, I am no prude. There is nothing wrong with a little partying, with a little time of ‘hangin out’ talking, laughing, having a drink or two, watching a sports event and the sense of celebration in the midst of a life of hard work. However, I have seen an entire culture in America that is totally consumed in their own party, in their agenda to get as much pleasure out of the night as possible. Many of these individuals will pursue this life style not just at the cost of their own peace of mind but others as well. When a culture becomes consumed with pleasure and fails to see or respond to the needs of others it will not be long before a cultural implosion begins.
Perhaps this is what King Solomon was thinking of, over three thousand years ago when he wrote;
"The heart of the wise in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure."
Ecclesiastes 7:4
In the weeks that followed hurricane Sandy I witnessed men and women that went to these devastated areas every day working hard to make a strangers life more bearable. I met people from all over the United States who drove, brought supplies and worked hard, trying to help people get their lives back to normal. However, what I really find exciting is the twelve year old and sixteen year old who would come to help, All the young people willing to give up T.V, video games and basketball to make a difference in the lives of people they did not know.
If we take time to think about the implications of something like Sandy in context of the lasting influence it may have on this generation you really start to understand how, even this, could in the long run, in the big picture make a difference for the better. Perhaps, we could all be a little more thankful for what we have,and be a little more conscious of just how quickly we could lose so much and most of all realize that what we give of ourselves will probably be much more meaningful than what we possess.