lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a number of questions emerge, and still more responses await us. I have been wondering about how to get my mind around all of this; in a way, any response seems almost as chaotic as the events themselves. I have come to a place where I am trying to frame all of this in the words of a simple prayer: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”.

Lead us not into the temptation of judging those who stayed behind. Many were among the working poor, the mentally ill, the homeless. They were left behind, left behind in the wake of the storm, left behind in our society. Lead us not into the temptation of judging the government. We have elected officials who have taken forty percent of our national guard and sent them to other places in the world. We bear some responsibility for what has happened in the days following the hurricane.

Lead us not into the temptation of thinking we would act differently if we lived in the region. When life is threatened, when our loved ones are dying, when there are no authority figures present, when our possessions have been ruined, when our livelihoods have been taken away from us, when family members cannot be accounted for, the lower part of our human nature emerges. We make assumptions about how we would respond, but we cannot be sure.

Lead us not into the temptation of seeking quick closure and turning our thoughts to other matters. The devastation in the gulf will require a long-term focus, and our societal attention deficit disorder cannot shape the needed response. Lead us not into the temptation of stepping away from the pain. If our nation were a body, the gulf region is an open wound. It must be treated. Until this happens, the body, the nation, is not healthy.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Deliver us from the evil of a nation that ignores the needs of its most vulnerable citizens. Deliver us from the evil of a church that is preoccupied with its own needs and agendas, and does not use its resources for the common good.

Deliver us from the evil of a marketplace that profits from the pain and suffering of others. Deliver us from the evil of those who abuse their neighbors in a time of crisis. Deliver us from the evil of unnecessary starvation and disease. Deliver us from the evil of blaming others and avoiding appropriate responsibility.

I am a pastor in a congregation. Our responses, like those of many faith communities, will be three-fold: first disaster relief, then relocation and resettlement, and later rebuilding. At the moment, there is a will to move forward. And yet I am convinced that our actions must be nourished and sustained by our thinking and praying, as we begin, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, to “repair the ruined cities”.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.