September 9, 2005
Game
It was inevitable that somebody would inject the notion of game into this monumental tragedy we call Katrina. For game is usually and eventually the way we seem always to cope with limits, life, itself, being the mother of all games. Even Katrina, our very namesake, rebels to remind us that we’re never finally in charge.
The game always wins, even for the winners, for in the final analysis we can only win against each other, we cannot win against the game. It is in that same way that war is also a game, a game in which, ironically, there are only losers.
And so, our response to the hurricane has now become the “blame game.” We started playing it in Eden, for accountability is the most onerous — and original — of alternatives. The always reliable religious right through an organization called “Repent America” is no exception, claiming now that the gays and lesbians are at it again. Just as we caused 9/11, they’re now claiming that Katrina was an act of God aimed at an upcoming gay pride event scheduled for New Orleans. But, God bless them, who is ever comfortable with liability? Obviously not they. Certainly not I, and, I suspect, surely not thou. Nor our president who, when asked, even with obvious anguish, could not recall a single mistake he had ever made.
No, Katrina is not punishment, rather is it a consequence of our lack of stewardship — of the environment, of our society, of our economy, of our bellicosity, and on and on. It is, indeed, a game we are playing. God forgive us, it is the shame game.
[Visit Episcopal Relief and Development at http://www.er-d.org/ to make a donation to Katrina Relief or Episcopal Migration Ministries at emm@episcopalchuyrch.org to volunteer to assist displaced people with housing.]