Where to Now?

This past week, we had our first Hurricane Katrina Support Group meeting in Salt Lake City for those displaced from Louisiana; primarily, New Orleans. The stories of their experiences are something beyond what any of us would welcome or want to have happen to us. In spite of the fact that it has been two months since that tragic event, many here in Salt Lake are still dealing with payments from FEMA, transportation, and employment.

There are those dealing with healthcare issues, such as prescriptions, dental care, and special medications ranging from high blood pressure to seizures. Although the support group is set up to deal with the aftermath of the mental acceptance of how their lives have changed and where they go from here, we have found that many are simply dealing with the basic necessities of life.

After discussing ways of dealing with immediate needs, we began discussing the realities of living in Salt Lake. How they might get on their feet so as decide some time in the future what their future might be. We discussed positive experiences thay have had, such as living in apartments in Fox Point, which I consider a great living area. We discussed the role of the church in their recovery, and most of all, viewing themselves as responsible to redesigning their lives.

When all is said and done, no one can live your life for you, or make you happy. Happiness comes from within when we take a positive attitude toward whatever life deals us and we respond in a way to shape our own destiny. We have to constantly remind ourselves to move away from a victim mentality, no matter what the news media may call us. There is still more opportunity and resources for responding to disaster in the U.S. than any country in the world. I cry inside when I try to imagine adapting to the earthquake tragedy in Southern asia.

A fundamental principle in the book Animal Kingdom is that when we all take responsibility for each others' condition, before and after a tragedy, we not only solve problems, but we learn what it means to be a human being. These are the types of principles we need to learn to create a humanly compatible world.

We will begin selling the downloaded sections of the book, Animal Kingdom, @ $3.00 each. One-half of all sales will go to support the efforts of the Hurrican Katrina Support Group here in Salt Lake initially and nationally if we have sufficient funds. The SLC support group will meet this Friday, October 21, 2005 at Calvary Baptist Church at 6:00 P.M.

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