As much of the county looks forward to spring and a relaxation of the pandemic restrictions we have all lived with for the past year, we need to remember the inequities this pandemic has exposed in our social structure. Three weeks after a brutal winter storm ripped through Texas with its remains in southern states, people are still without potable water.
The damage and costs for the Gulf region will exceed those of Hurricane Harvey because the impact was wider and actually more severe. The power companies had not winterized its stations and the grid even after failure in 2014, and the state’s response was to eliminate masking mandates and other health restrictions.
The pandemic has exposed our failure as a Nation to care for the most vulnerable of our people. Not only should we repent of our failures, but in preparation for the Easter to come, we need to look not just at Texas but at ourselves in New Jersey and across the Northeast. Texas is a warning for the rest of us.
Prayer for the Day
The chill of the morning reminds us that spring comes in fits and starts;
So, too, with repentance and reconciliation with the world around us.
Holding our coats tightly about us, we remember there are those
Who have no coats or shelter against the cold, whether damp or dry.
Forgive us our preoccupation with our own comfort, O God,
And bestow on us the grace needed to care for others.
In the name of him who cared for even the leper,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.
John Bunyan, English writer, author of The Pilgrim’s Progress (1628-1688)
We only have what we give.
Isabel Allende, Chilean-American writer
Give justice to the weak and the orphan, maintain the right of the lowly and destitute;
Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 82: 3-4.