Another view of Sandy

Last week a storm of tremendous proportions hit the New York. Damage was widespread and thousands were affected in one way or another. Now is the aftermath of that storm and people are picking up the pieces....

And there have been the news stories, presidential visits, and telethon, etc...but something that has not been been covered is related to the spiritual side and may be an indicator of where our nation is going...

When the World Trade Center buildings went down on September 11th, 2001, there was a day of mourning and a church service that occurred that Friday, where we were given words of comfort and strength by President Bush. The first line of the speech was:
We are here in the middle hour of our grief. So many have suffered so great a loss, and today we express our nation's sorrow. We come before God to pray for the missing and the dead, and for those who loved them.

Now fast forward to October, 2012. Hurricane Sandy hits New York and New Jersey. And the difference???? There has been no proclamation for a day or mourning or fasting....There has been no church services attended by leaders to give aid and comfort to those who are sorrowing....the only thing we have heard is the voice of Governor Andrew Cuomo telling us:
“This is the Ground Zero site. This is a monument to human capacity and human endurance. And, this is New Yorkers’ way of saying we’re not going to give up. We’re going to come back and we will. This city will rebuild and the state will rebuild, and I believe will be the better for it.”

No mention of God's help, no mention of prayer for the missing and the dead, no mention of fasting, repentance, etc...just we will rebuild stronger than before....Now if this were isolated, we would say that this is just an isolated leader who is spitting in the face of God...but it's not....there has been no proclamation from our President, no proclamation for the Governor of New Jersey (who was hit equally as hard as New York was), nor from the Mayor of New York City...In essence, there has been no spiritual guidance or dimension to the aftermath of Sandy....

And there is plenty of blame to go around:

• A governor who is too busy living in sin (don't think I've forgotten about your divorce and relationship with Sandra Lee, Governor Cuomo)
• Politicians (Mayor Bloomburg, Governor Christie) who have either sold themselves out to a PC agenda or are "afraid of alienating voters"....
• A President (Barack Obama) who seems to think that the only "God" worth mentioning and worshipping is himself and a media who is willing to be acolytes and cover up his support of sin in many areas....

But then there is also us....why did it take almost a week for me to figure this out...was I so "busy" with my everyday lifestyle to figure this out? Why has there not been an outcry from those of us who name the name of Christ against the fact that there has been no mention of mourning, repentance, seeking after God? There may probably been some pulpits and some congregations that got the idea that Sandy just may be a wake-up call for us from God, but in total, it seems that there was no mention of a day or mourning and prayer over Sandy. Since when has the body of Christ needed the government to spur us on to pray and help those affected. I know there have been some that have and if you have helped, prayed, or done something, then I commend you...but are you the isolated ones?

There was a song many years ago by Keith Green called "Asleep in the Light". He wrote this in 1978, almost three and a half decades ago, but I believe it is just as relevant in 2012 as it was when he wrote it....

Do you see, do you see
All the people sinking down
Don't you care, don't you care
Are you gonna let them drown

How can you be do numb
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes
And pretend the job's done

"oh bless me lore, bless me lord"
You know it's all I ever hear
No one aches, no one hurts
No one even sheds one tear

But he cries, he weeps, he bleeds
And he cares for you needs
And you just lay back
And keep soaking it in
Oh can't you see it's such a sin

'cause he brings people to you door
And you turn them away
As you smile and say
"god bless you, be at peace"
And all heaven just weeps
'cause Jesus came to your door
You've left him out on the streets

Open up open up
And give yourself away
You see the need, you hear the cries
So how can you delay

God's calling and you're the one
But like Jonah you run
He's told you to speak
But you keep holding it in
Of can't you see it's such a sin

The world is sleeping in the dark
That the church just can't fight
'cause it's asleep in the light
How can you be so dead
When you've been so well fed
Jesus rose from the grave
And you, you can't even get out of bed

Oh, Jesus rose from the dead
Come on get out of your bed

How can you be so numb
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes
And pretend the job's done
You close your eyes
And pretend the job's done

Don't close your eyes
Don't pretend the jobs done
"come away, come away, come away with me my love
Come away, come away, come away with me my love"