A Sunny Sunday

It was already light out when I took the dog for her morning walk. The sun had just begun to shine gently, the air cool and light. As we walked an extended walk this morning, it dawned on me quite clearly how today is not so sunny a day for so many people around the world, both literally and figuratively.

This week New Jersey had a share of rain and flooding. Many people dealt with the inconveniences of power outages and water where it should not have been. Although our development had flooded streets and our storm drains had risen to the point of looking like lakes, thank God we did not have to endure flooding of our personal space. However, many people did. Their losses this week are real.

This local experience of the rains and floods this week really calls us to not forget the unsunny days still being experienced by those who have lost so much in the wrath of Katrina and Rita. The goodness of the rest of us may ease their pain and help them move toward wholeness, but we should not forget that their pain and losses remain real AND that there are still many people out there who have not even begun to start to consider healing as they are still very much in need for the basics.

We are well into autumn now, and with half of October behind us, our minds are quickly entertaining thoughts of the winter to come (at least, mine is - we finally bought a snowblower this weekend). Yet at the same time we cannot forget - nor should we completely - the bruise which summer's end laid upon the Gulf Coast of the United States.

Still, let us not forget either those who have suffered losses and deaths in the face of the quakes in El Salvador and India and Pakistan.

Contemplating these realities, I hear the refrain from David Haas' "We Are Called" playing in my mind and leave for each of us to fill in the blank, We are called to _______________.

Peace-filled and blessed Sunday!