Charlie: "Where are we??"

I have been completely obsessed with "Lost" as of late. About two years ago Noel brought me the first two seasons on dvd and said, "dude, you need to watch these, some of the best television ever made". Of course, I kept the dvd's for a year or better and never watched beyond episode 2, which is completely crazy because I have now for the past 2 months been frantically trying to catch up (I'm now on season 5 and should be ready for the new season next week ... heck yeh!!).

Now, in season one, Charlie (one of my favorite characters), makes a statement that foreshadows the entire plot of the show ....

Standing on the beach, looking back at the jungle, asks the most profound of questions ... "Where are we?".

~~ in typical "Lost" fashion I'm going to jump a bit in subject matter and hope to get back to a singular point ~~

Unless you have been under a rock lately, or you just do not care about the state of our world, you have most definitely seen the devastation in Haiti. Conservative estimates have the death toll at over 150,000 people ... mothers, fathers, children, teachers, rich, homeless, the forgotten. All of this has really weighted heavily on me, which could be due directly to the fact that a young man that I go to church with had been in the country for 2 hours before the quake hit and for several days had no contact with him... that's another story all together.

Regardless, I have felt a heaviness for the people of Haiti .... then today I get this email from Noel with a link to an article from "theonion.com". If you are not familiar with theonion.com, it is a satirical news website (really funny) poking fun at the days current events.

So, Noel sends me this link, I begin to read and quickly realize that the message in this article is a poignant message to the world. For me, it's a direct message to the church, a direct message to me, Jim Odom - Christian bookstore guy that sits safely at his computer and blogs about the worlds problems and the call of the church.

Here is the link:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/massive_earthquake_reveals_entire?utm_source=onion_rss_daily

So, if you've had a chance to read the post, it's kind of obvious why this speaks to me so much.

From the church's perspective, it troubles me that it takes such a massive calamity to get our attention. Now, I want to be careful not to take away from the enormous show of compassion and aid that has been directed at Haiti. It's beautiful the way the world has taken Haiti under their wing, so to speak, to provide aid.

I think Haiti, more so than other countries, is looked at with "distain" from the United States and it's churches due mainly to the fact that it's a "voodoo" nation. Now, I get the reasons why Haiti has had such hardships since their independence was won from France, we do reap what we sow. And I definitely feel that there are consequences for a nation when the people so openly turn from God.

The problem for me with a country like Haiti is this: as believers we have a tendency to have the "you're getting what you deserve" mentality. Directly followed with the ever popular "i've washed my hands of this", "you're on your own". The simple fact of the matter is, we all deserve death... Never has there been a person born on this planet that didn't serve such a fate. I praise an almighty Jesus who said, "I'll take God's wrath, instead of it being poured out on you". So, regardless of Haiti's past, they need Christ... they need Love... period.

"Where are we??" ... a question I should never have to ask myself again ....

I know exactly where we are .... In a world that needs love: Haiti, Africa, Woodlawn (community in Birmingham), Guatemala, China .... BEFORE the tragedy strikes.