大象传媒

Good morning. On this day in 2005, Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans, killing more than eighteen hundred people and causing more than a hundred billion dollars of damage.
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A decade on, New Orleans and the surrounding area continue to recover. In many places Katrina鈥檚 legacy is starkly apparent: abandoned houses, increased homelessness, the loss of cultural diversity. And all the while, that enduring question: how do we make sense of this?
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In pondering that question I鈥檓 reminded of another tragedy - on a smaller scale, but no less devastating to those of us affected: the death of my friend Dina. Dina was young, fit, apparently healthy and she was killed by cancer.
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On the anniversary of Dina鈥檚 death I met her mum for coffee. She鈥檇 been to synagogue and there encountered a woman dressed in the most outrageous outfit of gold lam茅, even down to her gold nail varnish - and we laughed at how Dina would have loved that.
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And then she asked me that question: 鈥淗ow do you make sense of Dina鈥檚 death?鈥�
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I鈥檓 a compulsively honest person.

鈥淚 don鈥檛,鈥� I said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛. It feels like nonsense.鈥�
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鈥淏ut how do you live with it?鈥� she said.
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I responded, 鈥淚 guess I try to live in the nonsense. I know God鈥檚 big enough for our grief and our questions and our anger. But what I can鈥檛 do is make sense of it.鈥�
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Perhaps my answer betrays the fragility and weakness of my faith. No doubt a wiser, more faithful person would have known what to say, what to believe.
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But here I am, living in the nonsense, remembering how Dina laughed.
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Father, bring us peace as we seek meaning in the nonsense of the pain and hurt of this world. May we bring joy and light to those we encounter today. Amen.