By Karl Goodfellow
Disasters are physical, emotional and spiritual events. We
spend most of our time and resources responding to physical events. Yet the
biggest affects are often emotional and spiritual.
It is far easier to rebuild
the foundation under a house than it is to rebuild a spiritual foundation. During and after a disaster there are
unanswered questions we ask. Our
churches are filled with good, church-going Christians affected just like the
world. The effects of the trauma of disasters remain as unanswered questions.
The
military spends billions of dollars attempting to understand and treat PTSD.
The first step has been accepting the fact that trauma changes us. Major
floods, tornadoes, and fires affect our faith structures. In some cases,
spiritual resilience will arise and in other cases, a dwindling of faith and
haunting memories occur.
“Because”
is a free, two-week devotional intentionally created to be shared in churches,
prayer groups, and surrounding communities where disaster has struck. While
adrenaline flows a few weeks after a disaster, longer periods of frustration,
anger, emotional fatigue, and lack direction are waiting. I have worked with Iowa Recovery, UMCOR, and
after Katrina I worked on the gulf and with those brought to Iowa. I have seen
the blank, emotionally drained stares after disaster groups have come and gone.
There is a
lot that goes into a disaster devotional. Intentionally imparting a message of
hope is important. While getting readers and pray-ers to reflect, it is
important to understand how much encouragement and support is necessary in the
healing process. Particularly for those living in rural communities, the full
impact of a disaster may not be fully understood for months down the road. A
veteran once shared about returning from Vietnam, “I had just left a war zone,
but the war zone had not left me, and no one around seemed to understand or
care.” Working with banks, insurance companies, FEMA, and various organizations
can take years, and your supposed is just as necessary to get on with life.
Because is
not a magical answer, but getting to people pray, discuss, and seek to
understand the spiritual and psychological impact raises social consciousness
and creates support communities.
Here is a link to the disaster support blog.
http://disasterprayersupport.blogspot.com
Karl Goodfellow has
been a United Methodist pastor for 35 years serving in Iowa and Wisconsin. He founded the Safety net prayer ministries.
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