Last week I found out that, among other maladies, I STILL have a sinus infection (I've had one for over two months now). I'm on my third round of antibiotics. Tomorrow I’ll have a CAT scan and on Thursday I'll see an ENT and find out whether or not I have to have surgery which will determine if I'll be flying to London in a week. My flight is non-changable and nonrefundable, but it might be transferable, so... anyone want a one-way ticket to London?! It turns out that there's this novel thing called 'travel insurance' that would have come in handy in a situation like this. Good to know.

On another note, today is the 50th anniversary of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in it’s current location, where my mom has been pastor for three years. It’s also the anniversary of an event that has gained such notoriety that, like the 4th of July, it is usually referred to simply by the date: September 11th. Four years since a terrorist attack became justification for the erosion of civil liberties and an unwarranted and seemingly endless war. Four years, and how much safer are we? We may have lost more American lives due to the recent hurricane than we did from September 11th and the Iraq War combined. Already, some are calling Hurricane Katrina the worst natural disaster in America’s history, but I think the worst part of the disaster was not natural. The government’s response, or lack thereof, wasn’t natural; it was human yet inhumane.

Since the catastrophe I’ve seen an outpouring of generosity. For instance, in just one Sunday my mom’s congregation gave over $2,000 to a great organization, UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief). This kind of aid is clearly essential to people’s survival, but aren’t we treating the symptoms rather than the cause? At least the government’s handling of the disaster has come under some scrutiny, but we’re not digging deeply enough. We’re asking what left these poor people in harm’s way, but we’re not asking what left them poor.

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food they call me a communist.” --Don Heider Camara

I guess we need more people asking the types of questions to get them called commies.