The Aftermath of Chaos
And the winds stop. Chaos settles.
Devastated landscapes, destruction beyond comprehension, lives peeled to the bone remain in the wake of chaos. All that is familiar lays bare. Crushed is the life we know; flattened, drowned, burnt up or simply vanished.
Survivors of such monstrous forces like hurricane Irma in Sept 2017 saw local communities annihilated. Whole infrastructures and economies wiped out: homes, roads, businesses, schools, hospitals, stores and myriad connections severed—worship communities, livelihoods, neighbours and families. Like Job sitting in the ashes of his former life the view is catastrophic.
In the aftermath of devastation people take stock. They note all losses and account for what remains. Lying ahead is an overwhelming mess to clean. Different people have different responses to the tally.
At my churches’ Harvest Thanksgiving service in October the homilist was a man I have known for years, Dwight Thomas. Dwight is completing his training to become an Anglican minister. He spoke about a nine-minute video documenting the devastation in the aftermath of hurricane Irma. Seven minutes focused on survivors detailing an extensive litany of personal losses. What struck Dwight was the two minutes dedicated to a woman standing in front of her home where all that remained was the front and side wall. She said to the interviewer: “I am alive and grateful.”
“I am alive and grateful”
Dwight continued his homily and spoke about the story in Luke 17:11-19 where Jesus heals ten lepers (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+17%3A11-19&version=NIV).
The culture during this time considered lepers contaminated and unclean; their sinful living manifested in disease. Forced from their families and homes they were relegated to society’s fringes and left to live in poverty and desperation. With lives in catastrophe the only hope remaining was for death’s merciful release.
When traveling the borderlands of Samaria and Galilee Jesus passes through a village where one such group of outcasts is aware of his presence. “Jesus! Master! Have mercy on us” they call from a distance (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+17%3A12-13&version=NIV). The law cautions they must not come near the uncontaminated.
Jesus instructs the men to present themselves to the local religious authorities (the same authorities that ordered their exiles) and on the way they are healed.
Of the ten rescued from death’s door one man turns back to Jesus. Restored from the catastrophe of his broken life he praises God. In humility he throws himself at the feet of Jesus and thanks him.
With his life in tatters he has taken an accounting and the sum of his tally is joy—he is whole, alive and grateful.
To be continued (refer next post).
Think about your response in the aftermath of chaos.