Some years ago, there was a book entitled “God Writes Straight with Crooked Lines”.  I was a sophomore at a Catholic High School when I ran into this book.  I was intrigued by the title so I chose the book to read for a book report.  I must admit I do not remember the details of the book but I do remember the gist of it.  It was basically saying that God can always turn the negative into something positive.  This is not to say that the negative experience will be pleasant or that illness will not be unpleasant etc.  It simply means that the negative does not stand alone.  It will always be touched by God’s loving and compassionate heart and his all powerful ability to transform both people and things.

This past week I read a short article that basically summarized the first decade of the 21st Century.  In all honesty it was very depressing.  In one short page the author was able to enumerate at least one major atrocity per year for the past ten years.  We are all very familiar with these incidences.  The attack of 9/11, the Sex abuse Scandal, the beginning of the war in Iraq, the tsunami in Burma, the genocide in Darfur, the near financial collapse of our American banking system, the present earthquake in Haiti, etc.. 

At this point you are probably wondering what else can go wrong.  Even more importantly you are probably wondering what good can possibly come out of so much horror and catastrophe.  John Kavanaugh, the author of the article mentioned above, was making the point that the past decade has eroded our confidence in all institutions as well as in our own self confidence.  This is definitely good food for depression, is it not?

In actuality something good does seem to be happening after all this.  The recent earthquake in Haiti has given us the opportunity to see a new beginning.  Since I was on vacation when the earthquake hit I had plenty of time to watch the news.  I immersed myself in the news that came through the media.  Although the images were very graphic and heartrending, I was actually energized by some of the news.

As the week wore on there was evidence of so many thousands of people coming together to help others that they knew very little about.  There were many organizations that made appeals and several tele-thons came into play.  The heartening aspect of all this
was that it was evident that individuals were active and willing to help.  It became clear that people are no longer waiting and depending on someone else to do things or to initiate things for them.  People are no longer “helpless” in emergencies.  If they see something that can and should be done they do it.  It was really energizing to witness all of this.

    We do not have to lose heart when we lose our confidence in institutions.  We are very capable to being good and helping one another without being led.  We all know what it means to be caring and compassionate.  We are all able to read and understand the needs of others.  In short, the only thing we really need is our Faith and confidence in a loving God.  That is one thing we cannot afford to lose.       
                                Lorette P. Nault