This is a Test

With all the destruction that has occurred in the last month around the Gulf of Mexico, I have wondered what Americans have learned or should have learned during this experience. As an aspiring teacher, I know a lot about assessment and evaluation. The purpose of instructing anyone is for them to learn what you are trying to teach them. The way you evaluate their understanding is to test them. As I watched the news these last weeks and then as hurricane Rita approached the Texas coastline, I began to wonder what we should be learning from this flurry of destruction and death.

My first thoughts were very conservatively motivated. With New Orleans being the center of the crisis, I immediately thought of its history of vice and violence. Perhaps it was destroyed because it was being judged by God. New Orleans has been the center of sin in the South for centuries and has become a symbol of ideals and practices. It had become the center for Mardi Gras, the spring break promiscuity capital for college students from around the nation. With its destruction, hopefully Americans will get the message and not replace New Orleans with another city. New Orleans had the highest violence rate, especially in the French Quarter.

But then Rita appeared and it looked like God might be judging the entire country. He cannot be happy with the state of our nation. We rely on our own ingenuity and power instead of trusting God to provide for all of our needs. In these hurricanes, a large percentage of the US oil resources have been destroyed or knocked offline. With gas prices predicted to increase upwards of $4 a gallon, the country, in unison, has complained without looking at the true causes of the increase. The rest of the world pays in excess of $4 a liter for gas, and we complain about paying less than 50% of what they pay.

So the question is raised, “What have we learned from these ‘natural’ disasters”? Have we learned anything or do we need another lesson? How many more people must die before we get the message? We had been a bastion of spirituality as a country and then we forsook our great spiritual heritage for having ‘fun’. How do we assess our understanding of the lesson God is trying to teach us? Have we learned anything?