The storm moved slowly and deliberately toward the shore of our country. No one really believed it would land. All the technology and measurements had predicted that it would pass by and die out at sea.
The storm landed. The storm moved inland. The storm raged.
The city politicians had given fair warning and an easy exit for the upper-middle class and wealthy voters to leave quickly. Most of these people found a place for themselves -- in their comfortable summer homes, in well furnished guest bedrooms of family or friends, and in fancy hotels. Each had a safe place to watch the storm unfold on their screens.
The poor and the homeless were hit first. They were hit hard. The disabled and those living on the margins of cities were abandoned. In the high winds, children were ripped from the arms of their parents.
Here in the midwest, a safe distance away, there were two news stations covering the events, and one radio station which broadcast the impact of the storm in 20-second sound bites. These news sources had an unearthly power to numb hearts and minds into an impenetrable indifference. People were hypnotized by news of the storm as they stared at their screens with eyes that could not see. They listened with ears that could not hear. They sat in front of these glowing screens, in comfortable armchairs, like theater chairs with cup holders. They were strangely paralyzed by the real-time images and could not move.
The first of the two news stations had access to the devastation from just outside of the hurricane. Looking from the outside in, one could see images of looming, dark rain clouds and an ominous spiral of wind and water. Debris as big as cars and boats floated up like autumn leaves in a violent swirl of wind. The news anchors interviewed those who had just narrowly escaped from the storm. As their hair whipped wildly, one could see desperation and pleading. They cried out helplessly to the world. Help the ones left behind. Help the ones we love. The news anchors nodded at these words with pity stretched across their faces.
The second of the two news stations recorded the events from within the eye of the hurricane. There, in the eye of the storm, were blue skies and calm air--eerily calm air. These news anchors shared their perspectives of the raging storm around them, articulating only one message clearly: the law of nature reigns supreme. Blame, defensiveness, and hoarding were only side effects of this immutable law. In this eerily calm center of such a powerful storm, one could virtually watch them gather as much wealth and resources from the debris as they could. They did not fear the storm, but tried to move along with it, according to the laws of nature. They had only one great fear, that “those people out there” might bring their devastation from the outside in.
It seemed so safe and prosperous in the eye of the storm. We wondered why there was no compassion there. We wondered why there was no generosity. Yet, we started to realize, in a strange inversion of place---that a great storm raged within the very hearts of those standing under the calm blue skies and eerie air. On the screen, you could barely see it. But, if you looked closely enough, you could see under perfectly placed hair and pearly white teeth, there existed a dark and self-serving rage.
Likewise, through this strange inversion of time and place, in the hearts of those being battered by the storm, there was a light. It was a powerful light flickering like a candle in the dark. This flickering light existed in the very souls of those who had lost and were losing everything. They alone knew what it meant to love someone other than themselves. In their battered hearts came a new thing on earth. It was the most ancient of things. It was the beginning and the end of all things. It was love.
Meanwhile, the radio waves brought their voices--all the voices--to the farthest corners of the earth. These radio waves did not bring hypnotizing images on screens, but rather just words and stories.
It’s bedtime. We shouldn’t go to sleep. But, only the children know how to discern the good from the evil, and only we can protect them from the storm. The storm is raging out there; the storm is raging in here. Let’s tell them a bedtime story, and hope the children sleep.
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