Singing in the rain

So my over-protective mother who gets annoyed with me if I should get caught in a slight drizzle just opted to send me out in a hurricane (Dennis) to secure the awning. After completing the task (satisfactorily I hope) she accuses me of enjoying myself in the rain.

The fact that I did is besides the point. I was comfy in my couch watching Judge Joe Brown slap around a Plaintiff who kept opening his mouth in an attempt to lose his own case. Adri is right, parents are mad, but I'll take it a step further and call them psycho ..... when dem head tek dem.

Once again I have a pregnant cat through the hurricane. She refuses to stay round the back with the rest of cats. She prefers to climb outside and then run round in the rain and climb through the front window. Yes I know my windows should be shut tightly but if the breeze not strong enought to close them, then it not strong enough to fear. We have so many cats and they are all getting along famously right now with the common enemy being Hurricane Dennis. They're all so sad, so quiet. Chiquitita you and I know........

I felt a little odd as I listened to the radio and heard the callers praying about the storm. It never occurred to me to pray that it would pass us by. I just accepted that a Hurricane was coming and I needed to do what was necessary to prepare for it. The fact that I did nothing much to prepare for it is also besides the point. My family had that covered. I prayed that not many would lose their lives, but inherent in that prayer was that I expected lives to be lost. I planned to go in for my shift on Friday (3-10pm) because I expected they'd need the help to deal with the casualties. This non-chalance in acceptance is supposed to make me feel uncomfortable and yet it doesn't. Can I bury it under excuses of realism?

Am I wrong in this? Have I lost my concern for my fellowman? Perhaps not. It may just be that I don't think that prayer can turn these sort of things around. The thought floats in my head that these are natural disasters that ought to happen. They are systems that were in place before anyone lived here and they continue to exist beyond us so why should we ask the Lord to destroy them or turn them away because they don't like how they turn our world upside down? I don't like having to watch my house leak at all seams! I certainly don't like being without electricity for weeks or water for even a few hrs. Shoot I hate running out of Guava Jelly!!!

The fact is that in these times many of us turn back to God and others remember that He actually does exist (funny considering that one would excuse Him if He forgot 1 in 6 1/2 Billion, yet He never does). It is at this time that we rememebr that we are our brothers keeper. Times like this bring out the best in some of us allowinmg God to find something good to put behind our name, and the worst in others simply because we choose to think only of ourselves. I hope to be in the category of the former.

Dennis is in full swing and light has gone a number of times and thus this post has take many twists and turns as each interrupted thought is never quite rejoined at split ends. I think of Jamaicans away who are worried about their family, their property, or even their homeland. I think of visitors ot the island who chose the worst possible time to come and hope not many are from Florida hwere this baby is going next. I think of the poor in low lying areas who have barely rebuilt from the last hurricane. We can always fault them for choosing dangerous areas to live in but since we offer them no other land and we don't pressure our government to allocate for them, I don't think we should think beyond the whos. They are human beings and they need help.

I think of the educated with opportunities to leave who will see this as another sign for them to leave and perpetuate the brian drain that ensures the failure of growth policies. Yet its hard to tell someone to take one for the team when the team isn't acting like one. Why should you stay and face the possibility of growing victimisation by the few and apparently increasing undesireables? Yet if you leave it makes the fight that much harder for those who remain. We can't all leave.

What a time indeed. London has been bombed!! I don't even know what to say. I was more impressed with the report given by the British Medical Council's head who spoke of the quick mobilization of medical officers to attend to the wounded. He has stoked the fires in my belly for Emergency Med. Yet I know that EMS takes you away from your family way too often. Kelly won't like that. Neither do I want to be away from her for any long period either. I want to be a present member of my family not spoken of as if fabled.

I have much to pray about and much to ponder. I've rambled enough.