the book of henry

I had the awesome opportunity to spend last week in New Orleans on a bunk in the First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans with none other than the good folks at my home church in Chicago. I fired a nail gun, used a skill saw, helped install windows and insulate the walls, put up some dry wall, and painted the back and the front. I mention these only to highlight how thrilled I was that I emerged with no major injuries.

New Orleans makes you speechless. The middle class American mind has a hard time comprehending that the destruction remaining is even possible. That New Orleans, once the jazz jewel of the nation, today continues to drown in the waters of Hurricane Katrina.

The tales (as they truly are) of the storm and its aftermath sound like ghost stories to any outsider. They talk about a lawless place filled with dirty, snake-infested waters and hundreds of crying babies, gun shots, and dead bodies. The stories are almost biblical. In fact, were the canon still accepting submissions, I'm sure there would be many prophets amongst the storytelling survivors. One of them, perhaps, Henry K, a survivor from First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans, who made the Chicago crew red beans and rice for dinner one night (and even remembered the vegans!)

After dinner Henry told us his family's tale. He described the dark days following the storm as the worst of his life. I won't divulge the details (in case he is considering selling the rights) but I will say that Henry's family truly battled for their lives and will spend the rest of them healing from the trauma. Yet, they forged ahead and are now back living in their restored house and picking up where they left off. Had Hurricane Katrina hit Israel, Henry's account surely would have been a staple in our Old Testament diet. Henry heralds the work of God in his hurricane experience. "God," he asserts, "was watching out for the K family."

While the Israelites didn't have a Super Dome, the rest of the story really fits. The sea roared. The winds thrashed. Thousands cried out to God for help. And God led the righteous to safety. Henry, whose frail wife and sister nearly died because of medical complications, is our perfect humble hero. An example of steadfast faith in the face of disaster.

Yet, were I to flip to the book of Henry in the Old Testament and read about how God reached out and delivered Henry, his faithful servant, in the midst of a mighty storm, I can predict I would be pretty skeptical. I have to admit that even hearing the account firsthand I began to doubt. I never doubted the truth of Henry's experience or the sincerity of his faith. It's the deliverance part that I had a hard time with.

Christians often do not read the Bible like they read history books, though they declare its contents to be their history. When reading stories for Bible study or personal devotions, it's easy to ignore the existence of the world outside of the scriptures. History powerhouses like Caesar become mere supporting characters in the world of the Bible. Reality is distilled through the experience of one people. Their story becomes the story and the only truth. A story like Henry's would be perfect fare for a Sunday School class or a Men's Retreat. Henry's heroic faith would distract us from the plight of the non-survivors. They would become mere biblical statistics. "1100 Midianites and 700 Ammonites drowned in the mighty waters."

Yet, Henry isn't an Israelite; he's a New Orleanian. And his story isn't the only one. Some stories are buried with the more than 1800 bodies left by the storm. And many stories that live with the survivors don't have the Henry K happy ending. I can't tune out the stories empty of God's deliverance. Other righteous men like Henry who were not spared the storm.

The question burns. Was it God that delivered Henry and his family? Does God arbitrarily select which problems he will or won't solve? Did the K family win the prayer lottery?

From Crackle: Mr. Deity and the Evil - Season 1, Ep 1

Take a field trip to Mr. Deity for one answer to this question.

Now, as I said before, Henry isn't an Israelite. He's a New Orleanian. And the main reason that his story could never be in the Old Testament is because Henry lives with a faith, not only in God, but in Jesus Christ, a mere apple of Jerusalem's Old Testament eye. The stories of Hurricane Katrina can be reconciled in the context of salvation through Jesus. "Sure, Henry may have caught a lucky break. But everyone gets their happy ending through Jesus Christ!" Problem solved, right?

I don't know.

Truthfully, New Orleans is a faraway land full of ghost stories compared to the warmth and security of my Chicago home. And, given that, I could easily soothe myself with that idea. After a week in the upper ninth ward, I could return to my routine and assuage the shock of my experience with thoughts of Jesus Christ and all the things his life was supposed to mean. "Never mind Henry's physical deliverance," I might say, "because the most important deliverance is through Christ." Suffering, it seems, becomes irrelevant for so many Christians, in light of Jesus' deliverance. And I'm sure the attitude comes easiest for Christians like me, who have never wanted for any of life's necessities or feared for our lives on the roofs our flooding homes.

But for thousands and thousands of New Orleanians, the brutal terror of their experience over two and a half years ago was not so easily assuaged. And were I to find the book of Henry in the Old Testament or the New Testament I know I would struggle to accept either form of deliverance. And I can't help but wonder how the book of Henry might have been different had Henry's family met a different end. Would his story have rivaled Job? Would it have even existed at all?

I posed this issue to Cliff Nunn, the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, when he took our group on a personal tour of the aftermath. I asked him if he believed that God did deliver the K family and what he thought about the thousands of people still waiting to be delivered. Well, he avoided the question as most pastors and politicians tend to do. Instead, he replied, "I think the more interesting theological question is actually What is the role of the survivors who didn't bear any of the ill effects of the storm?" At first I found this to be a strange answer. I wanted to know if Cliff believed in the miracles of the book of Henry! Instead he gives me more questions? But his question resonated with me and ultimately seemed to be the only appropriate conclusion for this blog.

Cliff's questions could be appropriately directed at any of us who are spared earthly woes. It is fairly clear that I tend not to believe in the hand of God swooping down and saving people from harm. The statistics favoring lucky white people in these kinds of situations give weight to my skepticism. And, at the crux of this conviction is injustice, something I realized I don't need to wait for God to swoop in to correct.

The most important part of the book of Henry isn't the content, but the audience. Henry was able to share his story with people whose faith rendered them unwilling to wait for God to deliver. Henry has told this tale time after time to church groups from all over the country, eager to help deliver New Orleans. Henry's deliverance could not have happened had faithful mortals not been involved. As a Christian I don't have to believe that God is my superhero or that Jesus' salvation always blots out tragedy. But I do believe that all people deserve both kinds of deliverance.

The book of Henry, as part of the 21st century canon, would better serve today's people as the book of Katrina. The humble and heroic Henry would be one important voice in a patchwork of experiences, centered less on God's deliverance, than on God's call to deliver. (Nowadays, God's phone provider is the Holy Spirit.)

Deliverance isn't like a pizza from heaven. We don't order it from God. God orders it of us.

Answer the phone.

the darndest things

One of the biggest indicators that life went on without me while I was in Australia is my nine year old sister Abby. She is at the beginning of pre-adolescent girly cattiness and is starting to discover that she can act attractive and nearly get away with it. Soon after my return she came to me and told me very sincerely, "I know what you're going through. I've been through several break ups." I missed her first two boyfriends, "One for 2 days and one for 4 days."

But that's not all.

When I asked her about the latest on Miley Cyrus, this former Hannah Montana addict proclaimed. "Ugh! I HATE her!" Surprised, I asked why. Even more indignantly, she replied, "SHE HAS MEDICAL PROBLEMS!" Apparently Abby is not an equal opportunity Disney fan.

Abby as Hannah Montana, pre-medical problems
Later, Kate and I were talking to her about our recent trip with our church to New Orleans to do hurricane recovery. I explained that she should feel lucky, "Because some kids don't have meals." Without missing a beat she piped in, "Yeah. And some kids don't have iPods."

I think I'm going to go write into Reader's Digest.

the land of plenty

Dear Editor,

It is refreshing to know that there are magazines available that offer readers a window into the world of sustainability, fair trade, organics, etc. I have read Plenty for about a year now and I have certainly been pleased with many of its articles.

However, the main problem I have with the magazine, one that is sometimes alluded to but never fully approached is the problem of consumerism as the key contributor to the climate crisis and the inability of most Americans to fully commit to “being green.” Many self-titled “environmentalists” feel that the cure for climate change is as easy as replacing their favorite products with snazzy new green ones. (“Green gadgets” as you deem them.) Lizz Winstead touched on this slightly in her article “Life in the Green Zone” when she talks about the western addiction to convenience.

The real obstacle in the way of a widespread adoption of green practice is the continuation of a culture centered around consumption. It is certainly a smart and sneaky idea on the part of corporations worldwide to redesign and repackage their products with an ethical spin, allowing them to resecure brand loyalty. The surge in popularity of the climate change issue certainly threatens many companies whose bad practices are sure to be exposed to a now-concerned audience of recent eco converts. Eco-consumerism allows people to keep buying like they have been trained to do, while now feeling empowered and self-satisfied by their new “ethical” consumer choices.

Unfortunately, the environmental crisis is not so easily solved. Switching out “bad” products with “good” ones is not the godsend that so many would have us believe. And that is where my disappointment with Plenty comes in. I was curiously paging through an issue of O magazine today and found that of the 341 pages, nearly two thirds were devoted entirely to advertising. (Not to mention the 42 pages written by O writers covertly advertising through product comparisons and fashion spreads.) Now, Plenty is ahead of the standard newsstand fare because it is much more slender. And the amount of print space designated for advertising is significantly less than a magazine like O, especially because many of the ads are for non-profit organizations focused on the environmental crisis. But I still didn’t escape the feeling that as I paged through I was still being told to buy, buy, buy! (Buy individually-packaged organic snacks and drinks! Buy wind-powered hair gel! Buy bamboo t-shirts and vegan shoes! Buy a windable MP3 player!)

I realize that periodicals need to make money in order to exist and pay their staff. Yet I can’t help but find a green magazine that heralds the advantages of eco-consumerism to be a bit hypocritical. A culture of over-consumption is what has truly pushed the environmental problem over the edge. Children today are told from birth that the answers to their problems lie in shopping malls. (And eco-children seem to be getting the message that the answers are at Whole Foods.) Benjamin Barber’s book Consumed is centered around this notion of a consumer culture of infantilization where marketers prey on the minds of children, instilling in them the values of buying oneself silly. It is a system where companies struggle to create the notion of need in those who have none, while throughout the world those who truly do are ignored and unable to participate in the marketplace. As long as western culture remains dependent on cheap and endless consumption, landfills will continue to overflow, third world children will continue to work for pennies an hour, and fossil fuels will continue to fill the air.

The solution to the environmental crisis is not at the mall (or even the local health food store.) It is in a change of habit and perspective. Conservation isn’t only a term applicable to wetlands and rainforests. Conservation should be at the heart of how people lead their lives. Instead of keeping up with the green Joneses we should be sharing with them! Autonomy benefits corporate America first and the individual last. While we serve ourselves, buying solutions to world problems, we are still hurting ourselves as a global community in the long run.

I would be so much more pleased with Plenty, the “world in green” if it more fully acknowledged that in order for the developed world to claim itself as green it first needs to divorce itself from the capitalist culture of consumption as the solution to the world’s problems.

Being green isn’t about buying biodegradable drinking straws and bamboo laptops. It is about drastically changing how we approach life as a society. Being green is about making the smallest impact possible, which inherently means consuming as little as possible. Anna Sussman’s article “Roots of the Cost” aptly exposes some of the inadequacies of carbon neutrality, a concept whose message is, “Keep buying, traveling, and consuming as usual! Just offset it!” Perhaps this perspective is an enemy to your previous tagline of the ease of being green. But why should it have to be? Lizz Winstead’s article supplements this notion. Convenience can be so addictive that anything difficult looks like the enemy. It would be nice if being green truly was easy! And articles implying that switching to green gadgets, changing some lightbulbs, and buying a hybrid will stop melting the ice caps certainly promote that message! I encourage the writers and editors at “Plenty” to be honest with themselves and their readers and start promoting real lifestyle change instead of the next big thing to hit the store shelf!