Presents…
A Lenten Meditation Guide
Prepared By:
Rev. Betsy Waters
66 Manchester Street
Leominster, MA 01453
melizabethwaters@verizon.net
Edited By:
Denise Karuth and Fed Pelka
40 Days of Meditation and Prayer
The Book of Job speaks to us of the Gulf Coast in 2006
Forty Days of Prayer: The Gulf Coast and The Book of Job
You may find it helpful to have prayer partner or prayer group to share these reflections over the forty day cycle. You may choose to read the Book of Job or use only the selected scriptures included here. The texts here are primarily taken from The Message Remix: The Bible in Contemporary Languarge, a new paraphrase translated from the Greek and Hebrew by Eugene H. Peterson. The New International Version and the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible are also used.
Each Day:
1) With a journal and the prayer booklet in hand, begin with some time of Silence. It may be helpful to list Thanksgivings, Petitions and Things to Let go in your journal. Then take time for silent prayer – making space for a Still Speaking God.
2) Read the page for the day from the prayer booklet. Sometimes it will be helpful to read it twice.
3) Pray with the question or visualization of the day, allowing time silence for God’s part of the conversation.
4) Write any responses that you have to this time.
5) Conclude with the Lord’s Prayer
Day One: Overview
The Book of Job is a piece of literature, not a historical report. It is set “long ago and far away.” In the first two chapters, the destruction is done. From there, it uses a series of conversations. (Chapter 3 to 41) There are three rounds of conversations between Job and each of his three friends. Then Job listens to a young Elihu. It is then that God enters the conversation. Only the last chapter provides redemption. The majority of the book addresses the most painful and unavoidable questions that can arise in human experience. “Why do bad things happen to good people?” “What is the nature of a God who allows such tragedy?” Job presents a seemingly unending wailing, thrashing, blaming, grieving that probes deeply our understanding of God and humanity.
For us, however, it is not so “long ago and far away.” The devastation brought to the Gulf Coast in 2005 by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has us wrestling with the same kind of questions. The devastation took only a day or two. Dealing with the effect will likely take a decade. Through this prayer cycle, we will enter conversations – with the author, with your prayer partners, with the biblical text and with God in these months and years of response.
Allow yourself to remember the first weeks of newscasts coming from New Orleans and Mississippi. Remember the feelings and the questions that arose with the passage of the days and weeks and months after Katrina. Remember the second category 5 storm of Rita. Write down your questions. Questions you had then. Questions you have now. Let these questions rise as your prayer to God.
Note: An outline of the book of Job can be found at
http://www.willamette.edu/~blong/Jobfolder/Basic/Outline.ht
Day 2: Give Thanks for the Normal Parts of Your Life
Job Chapter 1:1 Job was a man who live in Uz. He was honest inside and out, a man of his word, who was totally devoted to God and hated evil with a passion. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters. 3 He was also very wealthy-seven thousand head of sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a huge staff of servants-the most influential man in all the East! ...The Message
Job lived in abundance. Many in New Orleans, along the Gulf Coast lived in abundance. Most of us in these United States live in abundance. With families and friends, food and shelter, cars and electronic toys, shrimp boats, river boats, toy boats. Abundance is ‘normal” for us, along with the “normal” stresses and challenges of life. How people in the Gulf Coast long to return to ‘normal.”
Give thanks for the normal elements of your life. Think about what has been lost to families and communities in this 200 plus mile swath of destruction: homes, schools, churches, jobs, restaurants, friends, a sense of safety. Let the awareness of gratitude and the awareness of loss wash over you. And let your prayers rise to God.
Day 3: Marti Gras - Range from Joy to Repentance
Job Chapter 1: 4 His sons used to take turns hosting parties in their homes, always inviting their three sisters to join them in their merrymaking. 5 When the parties were over, Job would get up early in the morning and sacrifice a burnt offereing for each of his children, thinking, "Maybe one of them sinned by defying God inwardly." Job made a habit of this sacrificial atonement, just in case they'd sinned.
...The Message
Usually New Orleans parties for ten days before Lent. This year, the parades and frivolity of Mardi Gras will be shortened to five days, but it will happen. The tradition involves a multitude of huge floats carrying bobbles to be thrown to spectators by the bushel load; lavish feasting, rollicking music and merry making with family and friends. This continues until the stroke of midnight on Ash Wednesday, when everything stops. The lights go out and silence falls. The time of purification and prayer begins. This is the regular custom on New Orleans.
Let yourself feel this swing from feasting and merry making to a period of purification. Do you trust yourself to experience both joyousness and self examination in a rhythm in your life or do you get stuck in one side or the other?
Talk with God about this.
Day 4: Piety/The Adversary
Job Chapter 1: 6 One day the angels came to report to GOD, Satan, who was the Designated Accuser, came along with them. 7 GOD singled out Satan and said, "What have you been up to?"
Satan answered GOD, "Going here and there, checking things out on earth."
8 GOD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my friend Job? There's no one quite like him - honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil."
9 Satan retorted, "So do you think Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart? 10 Why, no one ever had it so good! You pamper him like a pet, make sure nothing bad ever happens to him or his family or his possessions, bless everything he does - he can't lose!"
11 "But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away everything that is hes? He'd curse you right to your face, that's what."
12 GOD replied, "We'll see. Go ahead - do what you want with all that is his. Just don't hurt him." Then Stan left the presence of GOD.
... The Message
“The Satan," here is best translated "The Adversary." The title is more a role rather than the name of this being. This is not the embodied evil force of the New Testament. Instead “The Adversary” is somehow connected to the heavenly court and acts with divine permission. God is in relationship with this being who may have special responsibility to watch over errant or even faithful humans. This Adversary challenges God: Job is pious because you've pampered him. If you took away everything he had, he'd curse you to your face.
Piety can be defined as strong respectful belief in God and strict observance of religious principles in everyday life.
By this definition, are you pious? What would “The Adversary” challenge about you? Do you have a “strong respectful belief in God?” How did this come to be so? What strengthens your respectful belief in God? What weakens it? How do you show this? How do you communicate this?
Day 5: Wave Upon Wave of Destruction
Job Chapter 1: 13 One day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
... New International Version
Job’s destruction came wave upon wave. The destruction in the Gulf Coast came wave after wave. Hurricane Katrina was coming head on. Mississippi got the direct hit and places like Biloxi were demolished. Although some levees in New Orleans had overflowed and one had been breached, there was general relief in the first hours after the storm had passed that the worst was over and the city had been spared. On Tuesday flood waters continued to rise. The canal pumps workers were evacuated and the canals flooded. The Superdome was inadequately equipped for the people who came. The situation at the Convention Center was even worse. The people who were evacuated to the bridge weren't allowed to cross and busses were blocked from coming because of stories of violence. FEMA was overwhelmed and didn’t bring water or supplies. The television screamed the failure of the response as it showed thousands of people throughout the Gulf Coast who lacked water and safety. Finally, almost a week later, some degree of order is restored. But it was less than a month before yet another category five storm was brewing in the Gulf. Rita destroyed the area of the Louisiana coast that had housed the evacuees for the last month.
The story of Job comes alive on the Gulf Coast. Pray for the people who have lived through this catastrophe, who are still displaced, who are living in relative’s homes, who have lost family, friends, animals, homes, jobs, their community, their sense of safety. Pray for Back Bay Mission in Mississippi that lost five out of seven of their buildings, leaving two that need a great deal of work.
Day 6: Homeless with Only the Clothes on Your Back
Job Chapter 1: 20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. [c]
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised." ... New International Version
In New Orleans, along the Gulf Coat, evacuations for storms are fairly common. People pack their cars with clothes for a few days and may or may not bring their most precious possessions. When this drill is repeated again and again, one becomes numb to the process. It was repeated with Hurricane Katrina. Three days of clothes, time in a motel or relatives house or Red Cross shelter. Then we’ll go home, right? Not this time.
There were hundreds of thousands of people without underwear or more than one change of clothes. There were families whose children had gone to private school now listed among the “homeless.” The pastor of The Good Shepherd UCC traveled from Batten Rouge to Houston to the church camp to gather the remnants of his congregation. At each place, they cried and then they worshipped and praised God.
Imagine yourself leaving your home with your most precious possessions. What would you take? What would you leave behind? Where would your friends and neighbors and fellow church members go? How would you praise God?
Pray for those who have been dislocated. Hold into God’s hands those who have returned, those who have yet to return and those who will never return.
Day 7: Health/Mold
Job Chapter 2: 1 One day when the angels came to report to GOD, Satan also showed up.
2GOD singled out Satan, saying, "And what have you been up to?" Satan answered GOD, "Oh, going here and there, checking things out." 3Then GOD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my friend Job? There's no one quite like him, is there--honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil? He still has a firm grip on his integrity! You tried to trick me into destroying him, but it didn't work."
4 Satan answered, "A human would do anything to save his life. 5But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away his health? He'd curse you to your face, that's what."
6 GOD said, "All right. Go ahead--you can do what you like with him. But mind you, don't kill him."
... The Message
Flood-damaged homes, churches, schools and businesses drying out in the hot, humid climate without air conditioning for weeks and months were breeding grounds for mold. And the mold grew, so severely that hundreds of homes and buildings must be gutted or demolished, black hanging mold spreading spores everywhere.
The air is contaminated, which is especially dangerous for those with breathing issues and allergies. The outside of building may look OK, but health concerns abound.
Pray for the health of those along the Gulf Coast especially those beginning the reconstruction and exposed to high levels of mold.
Day 8: Houses Being Gutted - Trash Piles
Job Chapter 2: 8b” then [Job] went and sat on a trash heap, among the ashes.” ...New International Version
In New Orleans, everywhere you look, there is trash. Anything the water touched has to be thrown away. You can see the valuables of your life spread out before you: books, pictures, clothes, furniture, indeed the very walls of the house are in a big waste pile. In the parks, the piles of trash are over twenty feet tall and cover acres of land. Massive moving equipment shovels the ruins of people’s lives into huge tractor trailers and trucks it to barges for disposal. From early morning to late evening, the engines drone and yet the trash piles are everywhere.
Imagine your house, your church, your business gutted, with the things that are within four feet of the floor and those that have been infiltrated by the mold tosses to the curbside. Not just your house, but your house AND your neighbor’s house AND your church, AND your favorite restaurant AND your gym, AND your business… the very fabric of your whole connected community. And then pray for the patience and the wisdom to be in covenant with to be companion to those who are living this reality.
Day 9: Solidarity With Those Who Suffer
Job Chapter 2: 11 Three of Job's friends heard of all the trouble that had fallen on him. Each traveled from his own country--Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuhah, Zophar from Naamath--and went together to Job to keep him company and comfort him. 12 When they first caught sight of him, they couldn't believe what they saw--they hardly recognized him! They cried out in lament, ripped their robes, and dumped dirt on their heads as a sign of their grief. 13 Then they sat with him on the ground. Seven days and nights they sat there without saying a word. They could see how rotten he felt, how deeply he was suffering. ...The Message
The United States is a country that has the capacity to respond to tragedy. The Red Cross raised millions of dollars in the month or two following Katrina. The UCC's relief effort Hope Shall Bloom met its initial target so easily that it raised its goal to $5 million. Television focused on the tragedy twenty four hours a day for about a week. As the news of the wave upon wave of tragedy came across our airwaves, we were riveted, speechless. We were in silent solidarity with our brothers and sisters on the Gulf Coast.
Find that silent solidarity and sit with those who suffer.
Day 10: Pain...Greif Without Being the Savior
Job Chapter 3: 11"Why didn't I die at birth, my first breath out of the womb my last? 12 Why were there arms to rock me, and breasts for me to drink from? 13 I could be resting in peace right now, asleep forever, feeling no pain, 14 In the company of kings and statesmen in their royal ruins, 15 Or with princes resplendent in their gold and silver tombs. 16 Why wasn't I stillborn and buried with all the babies who never saw light,...
...The Message
It is hard to even read this level of pain in a story framed “long ago and far away.” It is hard to be present to the pain of those hundreds of thousands, even millions on the Gulf Coast. In Biloxi Mississippi, there is nothing where houses used to be. In St. Bernard Parish trucks sit on roof tops. In the counties that make their livelihood from the sea, boats are smashed and a lifetime of work is destroyed. Industries that had been based in New Orleans moved to other locations. People had to move to keep their jobs. Six months after the hurricane, there are few functioning street lights and sections of the city still have no gas and electricity. Only one elementary and secondary school are open in each parish.
Ask God to be with you as you are present to the grief, the pain, depression, and other strong emotions of those who have lost so much. Open yourself to these hard feelings. Don't feel you have to "fix" them. This will let people know that you care about them and that they can be who they are and where they are in their struggles without having to "make nice". Remember that Jesus is the Savior, not us. Help us to received what we can of their grief and pain and to give it over to him who suffered on the cross.
Day 11: Blaming
Job Chapter 3: Job laments: 25 The worst of my fears has come true, what I've dreaded most has happened. ...The Message
The doomsday scenario in New Orleans was one of the three practiced by the Department of Homeland Security in 2005. The New Orleans Times Picayune had written detailed exposés on the topic again and again. The televised experts had prophesied that the city would “fill up like a bowl” years before. Development had changed wetlands to residential areas and the views of the ocean brought expensive buildings to the water’s edge. …. And now, what is most dreaded has happened.
The human tendency is to go to “I told you so.” Blaming becomes rampant. It truncates the feelings of helplessness, and shuts out the cries and lamentations.
Confess your desire to place blame and exact retribution. It's easy to get caught up in blaming the victim: "They should never have lived or built there." It's easy to get stuck in railing against the government for its failure to build better flood prevention and control systems in and around New Orleans which could help it withstand hurricanes, have evacuation plans for those whith no means to leave the city, and deliver aid and assistance before and after the storm. Yes, government should be held accountable but at these failures will not help people who are suffering unless it is transformed into compassion and action.
Allow Jesus of the Cross to be with you in being a companion to those who are suffering. Advocate with them for emergency housing and other services and assistance they need to rebuild, relocate their homes and lives, whatever they choose to do, and for the implementation of comprehensive plans that would protect New Orleans in the future. Let your elected officials know that what happens to our sisters and brothers on the Gulf Coast in important to you. This speaks to the heart of our faith: to love one another, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Hear and respond to the cries of the people. Let suffereing open the heart of Jesus in you.
Day 12: When is Silence the Best Response?
Job Chapter 4: 1 Then Eliphaz from Teman spoke up: 2 "Would you mind if I said something to you? Under the circumstances it's hard to keep quiet.” ...The Message
Eliphaz is so much like us. Tentatively, he opens the way for his perspective and advice.
Under what circumstances is silence the best response? How do you deal with the part of you that finds it “hard to keep quiet.” What kind of a response is called for in being a companion to those in New Orleans or Mississippi or Port Charles? What would Jesus do?
Day 13: Has Advice Turned to Judgement?
Job Chapter 4 Eliphaz continues: 3 You yourself have done this plenty of times, spoken words that clarify, encouraged those who were about to quit. 4 Your words have put stumbling people on their feet, put fresh hope in people about to collapse. 5 But now you're the one in trouble--you're hurting! You've been hit hard and you're reeling from the blow. 6 But shouldn't your devout life give you confidence now? Shouldn't your exemplary life give you hope?
7 "Think! Has a truly innocent person ever ended up on the scrap heap? Do genuinely upright people ever lose out in the end? 8 It's my observation that those who plow evil and sow trouble reap evil and trouble.
...The Message
Each of us intend to speak words that “clarify, encourage those who were about to quit….. and …. Put stumbling people on their feet, put fresh hope into people about to collapse.” But in but a few more words, advice turns to judgment.
Reflect on your own life. Has this happened? Do you have this tendency when talking with friends and family who are depressed or grieving? Do you notice this tendency when talking about the Gulf Coast tragedy? What is the cost of this approach? What is lost and what is gained?
Have a conversation with Jesus about this tendency in your life. Ask for strength and discernment to proceed as Jesus would do.
Day 14: Theology of God
Job Chapter 5 Eliphaz continues: 8 "If I were in your shoes, I'd go straight to God, I'd throw myself on the mercy of God. 9 After all, he's famous for great and unexpected acts; there's no end to his surprises. 10 He gives rain, for instance, across the wide earth, sends water to irrigate the fields. 11 He raises up the down-and-out, gives firm footing to those sinking in grief. 12 He aborts the schemes of conniving crooks, so that none of their plots come to term. He catches the know-it--alls in their conspiracies-- all that intricate intrigue swept out with the trash! Suddenly they're disoriented, plunged into darkness; hey can't see to put one foot in front of the other.
15 But the downtrodden are saved by God, saved from the murderous plots, saved from the iron fist. And so the poor continue to hope, while injustice is bound and gagged. ….The Message
The friend Eliphaz has now moved from advice, to judgment, to his understanding of the nature of God…. To his theology of the Creator.
Do you agree with this description of God? In what ways does it make sense and where does it fall apart for you? What are the implications of painting God this way? How does this effect people’s responses on the Gulf?
Have a conversation with the Still Speaking God about this image and your image of the Creator, the Sustainer and the Redeemer.
Day 15: Grief, Suicidal Thinking
Job Chapter 6: Job is speaking: 8 "All I want is an answer to one prayer, a last request to be honored: 9 Let God step on me--squash me like a bug, and be done with me for good. 10 I'd at least have the satisfaction of not having blasphemed the Holy God, before being pressed past the limits.
11 Where's the strength to keep my hopes up? What future do I have to keep me going? 12 Do you think I have nerves of steel? Do you think I'm made of iron? 13 Do you think I can pull myself up by my bootstraps?
Why, I don't even have any boots! ….The Message
Job is depressed, overwhelmed, broken. There are many in New Orleans who can’t move. Who sit on the coach watching TV, unable to take action. They sleep or, more accurately, toss and turn all night long. There are children who are acting out or blanking out, unable to focus.
Pray for those in the midst of depression. Who struggle with suicidal thoughts, sleep disorder, lethargy and deep sadness. Pray for the mental health workers who serve in the midst of these emotional needs. Advocate for ongoing mental health services and supports for those who have lost hope.
Day 16: Financial
Job Chapter 6 Job is speaking: 14 "When desperate people give up on God Almighty, their friends, at least, should stick with them. 15 But my brothers are fickle as a gulch in the desert-- one day they're gushing with water 16 From melting ice and snow cascading out of the mountains, 17 But by midsummer they're dry, gullies baked dry in the sun. ...The Message
People in the U.S. often respond with amazing generousity when the catastrophe is on their television screen day after day. Money gushes like water "from melting ice and snow cascading out of the mountains.” But as the news coverage decreases, people's attention goes elsewhere. It is a kind of compassion Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder that often in the form of compassion fatigue. But in a few months, the streams of financial support are dry, “gullies baked dry in the sun.”
Hope Shall Bloom and the Massachusetts partnership with Good Shepherd UCC imagines something different. It is committed to reconstruction over five to ten years. Pray for this sustaining stream of financial support. Pray and advocate for government to make good on the President's promises of assistance and pledge to rebuild. Listen for your part in this task.
Day 17: The Length of Reconstruction Time
Job Chapter 7 Job speaking, 1 "Human life is a struggle, isn't it? It's a life sentence to hard labor. 2 Like field hands longing for quitting time and working stiffs with nothing to hope for but payday, ...The Message
The Metairie congregation of Good Shepherd UCC have homes in the city and in the suburbs. About a third had relatively little damage. About a third sustained substantial damage so that perhaps half of their houses needed to be gutted and rebuilt. And the last third lost everything. The church and the adjacent fellowship building were flooded with five and seven inches of water. But the water crept up the wall board and the mold grew over everything. The sanctuary needed to be gutted. The fellowship had the first four feet of wall board removed, the floor replaced, the kitchen appliances removed and a mold remediation team worked to clean air ducts and electrical system. It didn’t look like so much damage, but the price was $750,000 plus a ton of volunteer labor.
“Human life is a struggle, isn’t it? A life sentence of hard labor…. “ In New Orleans itself, there are mile upon mile of houses that haven’t even been entered, where work hasn’t even begun. … What can seem like a life sentence of hard work lies ahead.
What does it mean to be in covenant with the people of the Gulf Coast during these years of hard work? Pray for those who work, who support the work camps, who come from across the country to give days, weeks or more of their time. Pray for those who pray these forty days and every day. Pray and support those who hold events to assist in the recovery effort. We do this together.
Day 18: Death
Job Chapter 7 Job is speaking: 7 "God, don't forget that I'm only a puff of air! These eyes have had their last look at goodness. 8 And your eyes have seen the last of me; even while you're looking, there'll be nothing left to look at. 9 When a cloud evaporates, it's gone for good; those who go to the grave never come back. 10 They don't return to visit their families; never again will friends drop in for coffee. ...The Message
More than a thousand people perished in the aftermath of the storm. We were shocked and grieved by the disrespect of the dead as bodies were abandoned on street corners or seen floating in the flood waters. There were those buried under rubble in Mississippi. A disproportionate number were elderly and people with disabilities. The woman in her bath tub. The couple that died together in the upstairs of their home. The nursing home residents that were tied in their chairs. Even months later, as people returned to their homes in the ninth ward, bodies were discovered. Bodies are so damaged that morgues still hold over 100 unidentified dead.
These were real people. People with histories who were loved by family, by friends, and by God. Pray for those who have died. Thank God for their lives and pour out your sorrow that they died and that their dying was so hard, and that almost all these deaths could have been prevented. Pray for all who mourn their passing. Pray for those who do not know whether loved ones are alive or dead. Pray for the grief of communities is their time of loss.
Day 19: Conundrum of “Can God Mess Things Up” and be Specifically Blameless?
Job Chapter 8:1 Bildad from Shuhah was next to speak: 2 "How can you keep on talking like this? You're talking nonsense, and noisy nonsense at that.
3 Does God mess up? Does God Almighty ever get things backwards?
4 It's plain that your children sinned against him-- otherwise, why would God have punished them? 5 Here's what you must do--and don't put it off any longer: Get down on your knees before God Almighty.
...The Message
Shuhah is speaking from a theology where God punishes sin by bringing catastrophe on Job. Shuhah’s theology affects how he treats Job. It frames his thinking and his response. But the larger story lets us know that Shuhah has made a false assumption. The story tells us that God considered Job blameless, as a model of an upright person.
The conundrum is one of the places in Job that sends the reader spinning. On one hand, we’ve often thought as Shuhah is thinking – God can’t mess things up. If there is tragedy, then the victim HAS to have sinned. On the other hand, we are specifically told that God considers Job blameless.
Open to wrestling with your theology of God…because it matters. It, like Shuhah’s theology affects how we treat people, how we frame our thinking, how we respond to events in our lives. Talk with God about this.
Day 20: Miraculous Stories
Job Chapter 9:10 We'll never comprehend all the great things God does; his miracle-surprises can't be counted. 11 Somehow, though he moves right in front of me, I don't see him; quietly but surely he's active, and I miss it. ...The Message
There have been many “miracle-surprises” during and after the Gulf Coast storms, stories of people moved to show love and compassion to family and strangers alike.
There is the story of the family of two parents and a disabled son who, when the waters were rising to their second story, lashed themselves together to a tree so that all survived.
There was a man I met whose house was initially damaged by the wind. A neighbor photographed it for him on Monday so he could get an insurance payment. There was no reason to stay at his home but he felt—without understanding why—that God wanted him to remain there. When the waters rose on Tuesday he moved to the second floor where he somehow managed to catch hold of his neighbors as they floated by. They stayed with him for about a week. A boat washed up and was caught between their houses. They climbed on board and remained there until they were rescued.
There was a Christian woman who lived next to a synagogue. When the waters started to rise, she saved the Torah and buried it, as required by Jewish custom. When the rabbi and the community returned, they were exceedingly grateful that their Torah had not been desecrated.
Thank God for working through people and events in wonderful and surprising ways. Reflect on where you find God “quietly but surely” active in your life. Celebrate how God moves right in front of us, especially in times of need.
Day 21: Mercy
Job Chapter 9: Job speaking 14 "So how could I ever argue with him, construct a defense that would influence God? 15 Even though I'm innocent I could never prove it; I can only throw myself on the Judge's mercy. ...The Message
Mercy: a disposition towards compassion and forgiving others. A situation that provides relief or prevents something unpleasant from happening.
The web of community has been deeply wounded. The “taken for granted” infrastructure of grocery stories, jobs, schools, churches, street lights, neighbors...disrupted.
Many provided mercy…in the form of Red Cross workers and neighbors, as National Guard Officers and reporters, in those providing donations and prayers. Did you offer mercy? Do you continue to offer mercy? What might it mean to “throw yourself on the judge’s mercy.”
Day 22: Balance
Job Chapter 9: Job speaks 25 "My time is short--what's left of my life races off too fast for me to even glimpse the good. 26 My life is going fast, like a ship under full sail, like an eagle plummeting to its prey. 27 Even if I say, "I'll put all this behind me, I'll look on the bright side and force a smile,'
28 All these troubles would still be like grit in my gut since it's clear you're not going to let up. ...The Message
Two typical ways of dealing with difficulty: Saying “my time is short…” and “look on the bright side.” On the other hand, “it’s clear [the situation] is not going to let up.”
Reflect on these different pulls that are part of the Job’s situation. Do you feel those two pulls in response to the Gulf Coast? The limitation of time – or more specifically, the competing of a variety of priorities. What are your priorities that guide the use of your time, your talent and your treasure?
How do you balance “looking on the bright side” and acknowledging “the grit in the stomach… that things are not going to let up.” How does that balance impact the priorities you set for the use of time, talent and treasure?
Day 23: Discernment
Job Chapter 11 1 Now it was the turn of Zophar from Naamath:
2 "What a flood of words! Shouldn't we put a stop to it? Should this kind of loose talk be permitted? 3 Job, do you think you can carry on like this and we'll say nothing? That we'll let you rail and mock and not step in? 4 You claim, "My doctrine is sound and my conduct impeccable.' 5 How I wish God would give you a piece of his mind, tell you what's what! 6 I wish he'd show you how wisdom looks from the inside, for true wisdom is mostly "inside.' But you can be sure of this, you haven't gotten half of what you deserve. 7 "Do you think you can explain the mystery of God? Do you think you can diagram God Almighty? 8 God is far higher than you can imagine, far deeper than you can comprehend, 9 Stretching farther than earth's horizons, far wider than the endless ocean.
10 If he happens along, throws you in jail then hauls you into court, can you do anything about it? 11 He sees through vain pretensions, spots evil a long way off-- no one pulls the wool over his eyes! 12 Hollow men, hollow women, will wise up about the same time mules learn to talk. ...The Message
There is lots of talk related to the clean up in the Gulf. The mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagen, speaks of a chocolate town and God’s action. The governor of Louisiana blasts the FEMA and Mayor Nagen. Officials in Mississippi complain of being neglected. There are hearings in Washington where those in power offer explanations, recriminations, and excuses. “A flood of words!”
Pray for discernment of those making official decisions. Open their ears to the voices of the people. Give them the silent space to make wise decisions. Loosen the hold of political expediency and self-serving thinking and actions. Pray for courageous leadership that “sees through vain pretension, spots evil a long way off - so that no one pulls the wool of their eyes.!”
Day 24: Voices Beyond the Experts vs. Voices of the Ordinary
Job Chapter 12:1 Job answeres: 2 "I'm sure you speak for all the experts, and when you die there'll be no one left to tell us how to live. 3 But don't forget that I also have a brain— I don't intend to play second fiddle to you. It doesn't take an expert to know these things. ...The Message
There are a raft of experts evaluating the options for rebuilding the city. Many questions are being considered. For example: waht will be needed by way of new regulations and safeguards, and how best to rebuild the levies? And yet, there are families that have lived in this region for generation upon generation who know the city and its needs far better than any expert could. What input will they have in these crucial decisions?
Pray that the people who aren’t considered “experts” and who don’t have political power will have a voice. Pray that they too will be discerning, but also effective in their communication. Pray that the United Church of Christ will find a way to stand in solidarity for justice.
Day 25: Survivor Guilt
Job Chapter 12:13 "True wisdom and real power belong to God; from him we learn how to live, and also what to live for. 14 If he tears something down, it's down for good; if he locks people up, they're locked up for good. 15 If he holds back the rain, there's a drought; if he lets it loose, there's a flood. 16 Strength and success belong to God; both deceived and deceiver must answer to him. ...The Message
Job challenges our traditional sense of wisdom and morals.
In New Orleans, about a third of the people were left with little damage to their houses. Some people still have a business that is functioning and still have a job. There is “survivor guilt.” Survivors are clear that they didn’t do anything morally different than their brothers and sisters who lost everything. In many ways, much of the rest of the country has its own version of “survivor guilt.” This text points us toward the reality that the victims and the survivors must both answer to God.
Pray for those who were spared and live in community with those who suffer loss. Open to the rollercoaster of their emotions. Open to your own sense of survivor guilt. Talk with God about this.
Day 26: Respite, Sabbath
Job Chapter 14 Job speaks 1 "We're all adrift in the same boat: too few days, too many troubles. 2 We spring up like wildflowers in the desert and then wilt, transient as the shadow of a cloud. 3 Do you occupy your time with such fragile wisps? Why even bother hauling me into court? 4 There's nothing much to us to start with; how do you expect us to amount to anything? 5 Mortals have a limited life span. You've already decided how long we'll live-- you set the boundary and no one can cross it. 6 So why not give us a break? Ease up! Even ditch diggers get occasional days off. ...The Message
Those in the Gulf Coast are constantly surrounded by the smell, the mess, the stress of the destruction of the hurricanes. One of the dreams of the Massachusetts Conference partnership is to provide some time of respite and renewal. “For even ditch diggers get occasional days off.”
There are efforts to get scholarships for youth to go to church summer camp both in Texas and in New England. There are dreams of having people donate frequent flier tickets and vacation homes/time shares. There is a connection with the Friends network of “bed and breakfasts.”
Pray for those who need respite. Ask God to open the way for those who need time for rest and reflection to make a space for such a break and to have a place that is right for them to open up.
Reflect on your own need for Sabbath in your life.
Day 27: Mile After Mile of Ghost Town
Job Chapter 15:27 "Even if they're the picture of health, trim and fit and youthful, 28 They'll end up living in a ghost town sleeping in a hovel not fit for a dog, a ramshackle shack. ...The Message
Neighborhood after neighborhood, mile after mile, have houses that are abandoned. There are X’s painted on the houses from the house to house searches. The flood line varies from perhaps a foot to the middle of the second floor. The stench wafts through the air. Much of New Orleans is a ghost town.
At one of the hearings in Washington, a community leader and advocate spoke of the majority of young black men who are incarcerated. She began to imagine having them be one of the major workforces for gutting and rebuilding the city. Imagine, turning this time of punishment into a time of meaningful change, skill building, receiving and giving.
Pray for creative thinking, problem solving that addresses a wide variety of social ills. Hear the solutions offered by the people of the Gulf Coast and advocate for thier implementation. Allow your dreams to rise to God and listen for what creative ways you might respond.
Day 28: I know that My Redeemer Lives
Job Chapter 19 Job Speaks: 25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! ...New Revised Standard Version
How is it, in the midst of total destruction and despondency, that hope arises this clearly and strongly? It is as if the well is hollowed out with grief and refilled to overwhelming abundance with hope…. Hope: the faith in things unseen… Hope, heard from the pulpit of Good Shepherd UCC.
Repeat these words of the bible verse to yourself holding the destructive imagines along the Gulf Coast in your heart as you let them sing in your ears. Imagine, families standing looking at their homes and businesses in ruin proclaiming these words.
Can you proclaim those words now? Could you in the face of deep depression or grief? Hold in prayer those who are too despondent to have that level of hope. Pray for an opening of hope for them.
Day 29: Pray for Justice in a Politically Complicated World
Job Chapter 20 Zophar speaks 18 They will give back the fruit of their toil, and will not swallow it down; from the profit of their trading they will get no enjoyment. 19 For they have crushed and abandoned the poor, they have seized a house that they did not build. 20 "They knew no quiet in their bellies; in their greed they let nothing escape. ...New Revised Standard Version
Zophar is making accusations, accusations that echo along the Gulf Coast.
Mortgage companies are expecting mortgage payments for houses that are not inhabited. There is a plan to take over houses that are in default and not re-inhabited. There is some discussion about bulldozing whole neighborhoods. There are signs on building that say, “Do not bulldoze.” There is much discussion – and accusation about profiteering.
Building materials are in short supply. Even so, many Gulf Coast residents could return to work in the building trades, as unskilled laborers, and other jobs if temporary housing was made available to them. Standard labor rules have been suspended. The large influx of immigrant laborers is a source of concern among government officials. Outside contractors, workers, and trades people in their RV trailers have flooded the region; tent cities spring up in parks and on open ground. Fast food places offer signing bonuses of $100 a week and laborers can get wages 50% higher than normal, but Gulf Coast natives aren't benefiting from these opportunities. Those without homes to return to have been evicted from hotels while 10,770 trailers purchased by FEMA to provide houseing remian empty.
Pray for justice in the midst of a politically complicated world. Pray for those who study these issues, particularly as they relate to racism and economic justice, to provide clarity for the public to understand the issues at work. Pray for widespread involvement and cooperation across racial and economic divides in solving these complex problems. Pray to understand how you might help in this effort.
Day 30: Corruption
Job Chapter 21 Job Continues: 29 Have you ever asked world travelers how they see it? Have you not listened to their stories. 30 Of evil men and women who got off scot-free, who never had to pay for their wickedness? 31 Did anyone ever confront them with their crimes? Did they ever have to face the music? 32 Not likely--they're given fancy funerals with all the trimmings, 33 Gently lowered into expensive graves, with everyone telling lies about how wonderful they were. 34 "So how do you expect me to get any comfort from your nonsense? Your so-called comfort is a tissue of lies." ...The Message
Louisiana had a serious problems before Katrina Hit. State governement was widely seen as corrupt. New Orleans' police had been accused of bribery. The public schools were in shambles. The state was struggling to balance its budget. The storm has brought the larger community face to face with these problems and the broad based brokenness of trust.
Imagine the hope of true reform coming out of this turmoil. Pray for a turn around is the many levels of the community in New Orleans, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
Day 31: It isn’t fair … Justice in Stewardship Across the Region
Job Chapter 23 1 Job replies: 2 "I'm not letting up--I'm standing my ground. My complaint is legitimate. God has no right to treat me like this-- it isn't fair! ...The Message
From the Gulf Coast, there are cries that many places significantly impacted haven’t received their share of attention from relief workers and the media. There are many small towns that have received little to no support from FEMA or the Red Cross. The United Church of Christ is funneling most of its support through the churches that have been effected by the storm. The Massachusetts conference is partnering with Good Shepherd UCC in Metairie. Some would ask, is it fair to put our money there with so many other needs? But the plan is to support the congregation in being the leader of the recovery effort. This congregation needs to be strong enough to be able to support those who come to do work camps, those who work on committees that create the plans for rebuilding and those who will sustain this effort for perhaps a decade.
The word “fair” is word heard most loudly in elementary schools. Justice is the cry when a larger picture is taken into account. Pray for justice and discernment in stewarding our resources in working with folks in this disaster relief effort. Shower your prayers on those whose needs have not been met. Be in conversation about the responses of people in your life.
Day 32: Wisdom – Pray for the Pastors, Work Camp Leadership
Job Chapter 28 Job Speaking: 20 "So where does Wisdom come from? And where does Insight live? 21 It can't be found by looking, no matter how deep you dig, no matter how high you fly. 22 If you search through the graveyard and question the dead, they say, "We've only heard rumors of it." 23 "God alone knows the way to Wisdom, he knows the exact place to find it. 24 He knows where everything is on earth, he sees everything under heaven. 25 After he commanded the winds to blow and measured out the waters, 26 Arranged for the rain and set off explosions of thunder and lightning, 27 He focused on Wisdom, made sure it was all set and tested and ready. 28 Then he addressed the human race:
"Here it is! Fear-of-the-Lord--that's Wisdom, and Insight means shunning evil." ...The Message
Wisdom is a gift from God. Pray for wisdom at all levels in responding to this disaster . Pray for wisdom for churches as they respond to this need in the months and years ahead. Pray for church leaders who minister among those living in the midst of destruction. Pray for those leading work camps. Pray for those raising funds around the country to support recovery efforts. Pray that government officials make choices from wisdom. Find your own wisdom to share as you listen for God’s guidance.
Day 33: Those Who Love New Orleans
Job Chapter 29 When God Was Still by My Side
1 Job now resumed his response:
2 "Oh, how I long for the good old days, when God took such very good care of me. 3 He always held a lamp before me and I walked through the dark by its light. 4 Oh, how I miss those golden years when God's friendship graced my home 5 When the Mighty One was still by my side and my children were all around me, 6 When everything was going my way, and nothing seemed too difficult.
7 "When I walked downtown and sat with my friends in the public square,
8 Young and old greeted me with respect; I was honored by everyone in town.
9 When I spoke, everyone listened; 10 they hung on my every word.
11 People who knew me spoke well of me; my reputation went ahead of me.
12 I was known for helping people in trouble and standing up for those who were down on their luck. 13 The dying blessed me, and the bereaved were cheered by my visits. 14 All my dealings with people were good.
I was known for being fair to everyone I met. ...The Message
Pray for those who love New Orleans as it was. Who cherish the memory of its jazz and energy, the abundance of its gourmet restaurants, the variety of its historic architecture and its exuberant spirit. Pray for those whose families, after generations in the same neighborhoods and streets, are now uprooted, and for all who fear that the spirit of the city may be lost forever. There is a passion in people for their city. Let that passion touch your heart. Lift up their loss in prayer. Pray to sustain their persistence and faith.
Day 34: Heritage of Black Leadership
Job Chapter 29 Job continues: 15 I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame, 16 Father to the needy, and champion of abused aliens. 17 I grabbed street thieves by the scruff of the neck and made them give back what they'd stolen. 18 I thought, "I'll die peacefully in my own bed, grateful for a long and full life, 19 A life deep-rooted and well-watered, a life limber and dew-fresh 20 My soul suffused with glory and my body robust until the day I die.' 21 "Men and women listened when I spoke, hung expectantly on my every word. ...The Message
The United Church of Christ was formed by a negotiated union of the
Congregational-Christians and Evangelical-Reformed churches. Most of those creating the union were from Anglo congregations. But in the south, Congregational-Christian churches often were African heritage black congregations. In the late 1950s and 60s, when the union occurred, it took courageous leadership in the south to cross this racial divide to create a truly United Church of Christ. In New Orleans, this leadership came from middle class African American churches. Central Congregational Church in New Orleans was the home church of Rev. Andrew Young and the birthplace of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Thank God for the historical leadership of these churches. Pray for the leadership of churches in the Gulf Coast in these days. Pray especially for The Rev. Gary Arndt, the pastor of the Good Shepherd UCC in Metairie. The Massachusetts Conference of the UCC is in partnership with this church. This partnership commits prayer, financial support, work support, and respite pportunities. This support has begun and will need to
continue for five to ten years.
Day 35: Turning Complaints into Prayer
Job Chapter 33 Elihu speaks: 12 "But let me tell you, Job, you're wrong, dead wrong! God is far greater than any human. 13 So how dare you haul him into court, and then complain that he won't answer your charges? 14 God always answers, one way or another, even when people don't recognize his presence. ...The Message
Do you complain? How might you turn your complaints into prayers? What complaint arises in you that you could turn to a prayer now?
God always answers….
How have you recognized God
- answering your prayers?
- in your own life?
- in your response to the Gulf Coast?
- in action in the Gulf Coast region?
Day 36: Speechless Awe
Job Chapter 40
1 GOD then confronted Job directly:
2 "Now what do you have to say for yourself? Are you going to haul me, the Mighty One, into court and press charges?"
3 Job answered: 4 "I'm speechless, in awe--words fail me. I should never have opened my mouth! 5 I've talked too much, way too much. I'm ready to shut up and listen." ...The Message
Let yourself feel speechless awe.
For Job, there is a piece of shame in this. Can you move past that shame and let yourself be surrounded by awe of the Might One?
Day 37: What questions would God ask you?
Job Chapter 40: 6 GOD addressed Job next from the eye of the storm, and this is what he said: 7 "I have some more questions for you, and I want straight answers. 8 "Do you presume to tell me what I'm doing wrong? Are you calling me a sinner so you can be a saint?
9 Do you have an arm like my arm? Can you shout in thunder the way I can? 10 Go ahead, show your stuff. Let's see what you're made of, what you can do. 11 Unleash your outrage. Target the arrogant and lay them flat.12 Target the arrogant and bring them to their knees.
Stop the wicked in their tracks--make mincemeat of them! 13 Dig a mass grave and dump them in it-- faceless corpses in an unmarked grave. 14 I'll gladly step aside and hand things over to you-- you can surely save yourself with no help from me!
What questions would God ask you?
What questions would God ask people who have lived along the Gulf Coast? What questions would God ask the politicians in Washington? What questions would God ask the people of the United Church of Christ?
Listen for the questions. Write them down. Ponder them.
And then let the silence open your heart to hear the Still Speaking God.
Day 38: Submission
Job Chapter 42: 1 Job answered GOD: 2 "I'm convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans 3 You asked, "Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?' I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head. 4 You told me, "Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.' 5 I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand--from my own eyes and ears! 6 I'm sorry--forgive me. I'll never do that again, I promise! I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor." ...The Message
Job needed to repent of his own tendency to play God. Job needed to repent of his limiting God by having an image of God that was too small, of projecting onto God human purposes. Job needed to repent. This is a time of submission.
Submission is an act of the will. True submission means turning one’s will over to God voluntarily and with full trust. As such, in submission a person no longer needs to question. This is difficult for most people in the United States, with it high value on individual decision making, to grasp. Many would not even have this as a goal. But after many chapters of questions, Job is called to submission.
Place your self in a spirit of submission for your time of prayer. If you cannot do that, imagine what it would be like if you could. Perhaps, you could imagine standing on a square. As long as you were on the square, you could be in submission to God’s will. When you were off, you retained your questions and autonomy from God. What would it be like if you spent more time in your life in state of submission? How might your faith journey be changed? Around what issue are you most able to take the stance of submission? Where does submission fit in your understanding of disaster recovery?
Day 39: Compassion Fatigue
Job Chapter 42: 7 After GOD had finished addressing Job, he turned to Eliphaz the Temanite and said, "I've had it with you and your two friends. I'm fed up! You haven't been honest either with me or about me--not the way my friend Job has. 8 So here's what you must do. Take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my friend Job. Sacrifice a burnt offering on your own behalf. My friend Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer. He will ask me not to treat you as you deserve for talking nonsense about me, and for not being honest with me, as he has." ...The Message
Job’s friends have been the voice of traditional morality and a vision of God who “delivers punishments and rewards” for following that morality. Now, God says that he’s “fed up” with these friends, with their blaming and retributive theology. Job was judged as honest in his prayers, even with all that anger and grief. God sends the friends to perform a forgiveness ritual. God calls Job to pray for those who have blamed him. God says that with Job praying for “his friends” that God would accept that prayer.
Can you pray for those who have been inadequate or dishonest around issues in the Gulf Coast? Who let people down in their roles as members of FEMA or helping groups? Can you pray to God for those who flail in congress in hearings about decision-making and money? Can you forgive individual and collective choices that led to life threatening and expensive choices in the days following the Hurricane? Can you forgive people in this country for “forgetting” this issue and moving quickly into “compassion fatigue?”
Pray for the grace and strength to forgive those you hold in contempt and blame in this time in our history.
Day 40: The Vision of a Powerful Renewal
Job Chapter 42: 12 GOD blessed Job's later life even more than his earlier life. He ended up with fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand teams of oxen, and one thousand donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the first daughter Dove, the second, Cinnamon, and the third, Darkeyes. 15 There was not a woman in that country as beautiful as Job's daughters. Their father treated them as equals with their brothers, providing the same inheritance.
16 Job lived on another hundred and forty years, living to see his children and grandchildren--four generations of them! 17 Then he died--an old man, a full life. ...The Message
At the end of the book of Job, life is “twice as good” as before the catastrophe. The daughters are specifically named and treated as equals with their brothers, something very unusual in that culture. The length of life is twice as much as was typical (140 years as opposed to 70) and the number of animals is also twice what were listed as the original number.
What would the Gulf Coast be like if it was restored, but with twice the resources and positive qualities that it had before. What would fulfill that vision? Imagine! Imagine true racial and economic class equality, something very unusual in our culture.
The city of Galveston Texas, built on a barrier island on the Gulf Coast, is a model for what could be done to repair and rebuild New Orleans. Galveston was built partly below sea level, at a greater depth than New Orleans. The Great Storm of September, 1900 killed an estimated 10 to 12,000 people, including at least 6,000 on Galveston Island. Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed. The phenomenal storm triggered a phenomenal response by the people who survived it. They raised the level of the city fifteen feet and build a new, hurricane resistant seawall. Now Galveston is a major seaside resort, a popular destination for tourists, and a much safer place to live.
How would a vision of powerful renewal along the Gulf Coast boost not only the residents, but also the whole country? Let God lead you to the vision of a new New Orleans, a new Mississippi, a new east Texas, a new Gulf Coast. Let that kind of hope surround you and send that hope to all involved in this new beginning.
