In the Scheme of Things...

In the scheme of things, I'm a nobody. Yet I grieve as much as anybody who watches news about the greatest natural disaster to befall our country. I have watched enough of this tragedy on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox news to last three lifetimes. I have reached the saturation point of watching the tragedy unfold in living death colors. I have gotten to the point that I don't watch much of it any more. Call it a defense mechanism if you will, but I'm sick and tired of seeing the same scenes over and over and over and over again. I'm sick and tired of watching reporters try to figure out ways to put new twists on the same old samo...

In the scheme of things, I'm sick and tired of the bickering and blame game stuff. Everybody seems to be blaming the President for not taking charge. If they're not blaming the President, they're blaming the Mayor of New Orleans, the Governor of Louisana, FEMA, the National Guard, as well as various and sundry other political officials. The Liberal politicians are blaming the Conservatives. The Conservative politicians are blaming the Liberals. Everyone seems to be blaming someone else for being inept with his or her responses to the disaster...

In the scheme of things, if everyone would stop the childish blame game stuff and concentrate on working together to get through this disaster, we would all be a whole lot better off. I have no answer for the misbehavior of the looting mobs that roam the streets of New Orleans. I don't know what can be done about those evil people. But I do know that there has been far too much political blaming and the country is going to ultimately suffer for it...

In the scheme of things, I can't contribute much to alleviate all the pain and suffering. Yes I can pray for the well being of those who are suffering. I do that with a broken heart. I can pray for strength on the part of those who are helping. I do that with all my heart. I can pray for wisdom on the part of those who are leading. I do that with all my heart. I can generously contribute a measure of my small retirement resources toward helping the needy. And I do that with a glad heart...

In the scheme of things, my little church can't do much to help the suffering. We are a small struggling Native American church out in the middle of nowhere, Oklahoma. But we're doing what we can. On the seventh day after Katrina hit New Orleans, I stood and preached to a congregation of ten people. I preached from the account where the small lad gave Jesus the five loaves and two fish (John 6:1-13). From that small contribution from an insignificant little boy, Jesus fed the 5,000 that were gathered there on the hillside. Believing that Jesus uses the small to make great, I asked the congregation to contribute something to help the suffering in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. I committed a week's salary from my church earnings. I challenged my people to contribute what they could. From the eleven people present in our sanctuary Sunday morning, Watonga Indian Baptist Church raised $175.00. We are going to send our contribution to the ABC-USA's One Great Hour of Sharing. In the scheme of things that's probably not even a nanosecond of a millisecond of the hour...

In the scheme of things, $175.00 isn't very much. It doesn't even represent a grain of sand on the vast seashore of all the money that has been/will be raised for this disaster. But for us (WIBC) that's a pretty significant offering, considering that we are basically poor people in the scheme of things. Our offering will never be noticed in the long run. But we have done something. And we did it from our hearts in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ..