Realistically Optimistic...

First (and - relatively speaking - frivolous) things first. OK, ok, so maybe the football game didn't quite turn out the way I expected. Nevertheless, I think the Tigers can still pull out a great season. I have total confidence in them. Brandon Cox looked really good for his first game; if the offensive line can protect him a little better, and if the teamwork and communication can improve, and if our defense can play a little more aggressively, I think that there is enough talent there to carry the team a long way. One could perhaps call me a 'realistic optimist' regarding the rest of the season. Besides, even though we lost (and even though Alabama won - Brodie really powered through that blister injury; he's tough and manly), it was still a really great weekend in my little world.

As for the world outside of mine, well, I'm assuming that we've all been watching the news as the events in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama unfold. This is definitely a situation where words absolutely mock me with their uselessness; there just isn't a way to justly express the horrors going on in the Gulf region. And there are no words that seem appropriate to bestow on those people, those risking their lives and those who completely open their homes and their lives to help those in need.

Earlier today, I was talking with Nolan about the similarities between the way people have responded to this tragedy and the way people responded after the terrorist attacks on September 11th. It's very evident that disasters like these have a way of illuminating what is beautiful, generous, noble and heroic in so many people; my question is, when does the shadow fall again, and what causes this? Clearly we did not maintain the levels of community and generosity that poured out after September 11th, or even after the more recent tragedy of the tsunami in Southeast Asia. I'm not trying to criticize; I'm merely wondering what happens to allow us to settle back into day-to-day living...to resume our 'normal' routines, thinking less and less of the human suffering that we have seen and experienced. This leads me to wonder, then, what will it take for us to truly and permanently change the ways we think and behave? Could this particular catastrophe have implications that reach far enough to catalyze this kind of change? Have we seen enough suffering to actually make continuous efforts toward transformation?

It all starts with us. With me. With whoever is willing to reach out. It's easier than ever to help, it seems. Donating to or volunteering for the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, the United Methodist Committee on Relief, the Greater Baton Rouge Foodbank (to name only a few), is as easy as, well, spending 30 minutes typing a bunch of stuff on a blog that 5 people (and I'm giving myself a generous estimate) read. Probably easier. When it seems overwhelming, just take it from the expert (not me...at least, this time). Mother Teresa said that we can do no great things, but that we can do small things with great love. Enough small things done with great love...well, I can't help but think we'd see something truly amazing happen. I happen to be realistically optimistic about the whole matter.