The Wrath of Gustav - Pray for the Gulf South

O God, Lord of the universe, hear the voices of your children.  The Sea of Galilee obeyed your command and returned to its quiet.  You are the Master of land and sea.  We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control.  The Gulf, a provoked and angry giant, wakes from its lethargy, and invades our land to bring us death and chaos.  We turn to You.  Spare us another tragedy.  The memory is vivid.  The wounds have not healed.   Have mercy on our brothers and sisters.

Amen.

Comments

[Geoff miller]

Amen.

[Maureen Lang]

Amen.
To all who live in the areas threatened by Gustav, heed the warnings, don't attempt to "ride it out" this time. Take all, your loved ones, your pets, all you hold dear & get out of there now, now, until the all-clear is called.

And to those who can, plz help them to do so.

[J]

Colonel, Maureen, All,

please say a prayer that our govt. figures will use their brain-cells for once and decide that the blackwater merc thing is not such a good idea. blackwater acted in thug fashion the last hurricane (katrina) go around. and blackwater is gearing up to throw their merc weight around once again.

see:
http://www.legitgov.org/blackwater_mercenary_call_for_gustav.html

please say a prayer that this is stopped in its tracks. what our distressed brothers and sisters in the gulf region do NOT need are bully mercs like blackwater throwing their merc weight around.

[Leila Abu-Saba]

Thank you, Colonel, for posting this prayer. I'm with you, amen.

[Patrick Lang]

All

I have received a couple of nasty, snotty comments to this post.

Those who are involved are no longer welcome here.

pl

[Leila Abu-Saba]

The internet sends people over the edge. Good for you for giving them the boot.

[Sidney O. Smith III]

Amen.

And thank you for posting this prayer. New Orleans -- it’s a city I deeply love.

Nothing in the last 25 years captures the true spirit of Nawlins better than the CBS show Frank’s Place. It was a work of art.

http://tinyurl.com/5bcbnw

The show was based very loosely around a restaurant Chez Helen.

Chez Helen closed in the 1990’s and the chef Austin Leslie died in Atlanta two weeks after Katrina.

Gustav looks even more dire. My prayers to “Nawlins and the Bayou State as well as the beautiful Gulf coast from the Fla. panhandle, to Perdido Bay, Mobile, Ala. and east to Texas. Many memories from my youth on that Gulf Coast. Like a beautiful dream.

[Blue Girl]

Unbelievable that such a human tragedy gets used for trollery. I am sorry you had to even deal with that, COLONEL. I am not a person of faith, but that is a lovely prayer and my thoughts and concerns are with those in the path of this storm.

[Cieran]

Thanks for these thoughts and prayers, Colonel. You are always generous with your intellect, and today, equally so with your spirit.

NOAA's National Hurricane Center has lots of up-to-date information on this storm, including hot-off-the-press discussions by its best forecasters:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

This is one source of excellent technical information, from a part of the federal government that still works remarkably well...

[Dick]

Amen, too. But it looks like preparations are much more likely to keep casualties to a minimum this time. We learn - some things - from experience, and the government(s) will no doubt do the right thing this time - most importantly protect the people most in need. It hurt me to see those scenes and hear the stories of Katrina. I pray to God that none of that will happen this time (doesn't look like it will). As an aside, I think it is better for the GOP that Bush and Cheney are staying away from the convention, ostensibly to look after things when Gustav hits. McCain must be breathing a sigh of relief. Sorry to bring politics into this, but both candidates are making appearances in the "storm zone."

[taters]

Amen.

[J]

All,

pray for those in emergency services all up and down the gulf coast who will be weathering gustav.

[Mad Dogs]

Ditto what Leila Abu-Saba said!

[Different Clue]

I just recently read that some high-altitude wind-shear is somewhat disorganizing the upper-level of the eyewall stack. That could lead to the storm processing less energy. Also, it could veer
a little more westward towards less-densely populated areas of less uniquely-vulnerable nature.

[Watcher]

Having just recently PCSd from Fort Polk LA to VA we overnighted in New Orleans. It's made some progress but there are still many indicators of the progress to made and now to be set back. According to some of my buddies back at Polk, they are in full tilt prep for this one as the storm track has it heading right for them. Best of luck to them.

[William R. Cumming]

Evacuation should have been ordered Thursday noon not Saturday noon. To those of us who love and cherish NOLA we pray for the winds and surge to spare it and hope that all who are normally residents there are safely elsewhere.

[frank durkee]

Amen

[charlottemom]

I pray for all in the path of this hurricane, especially if they're dependent on others to help them flee. The possibility that those with so little could be left with even less makes my heart ache.

[Will]

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Mat 18:20

Will

[m savoca]

my entire adult life i have prayed for the safety of my children, and then, upon reflection the children of the world

like some of our founders, i adhere to some deist notions and wonder whether or not God intervenes in the day to day events of men, or lets the natural order play out.

did God allow the last hurricane or any other tragedy to occur for divine reasons we can not know?

try as i may,i have no answers to these questions.

but i pray and hope for wisdom and guidance..as mere mortals this is the best we can do

so to your prayers Colonel Lang i say thank you and Amen.

[kao-hsien-chih]

Amen indeed. One of my close friends moved back to New Orleans (where she is orginally from) after Katrina to help out her famly. At the risk of sounding a bit selfish, I can't help but think of her as I hear about Gustav approaching--although there are millions whose lives may be affected adversely and are very much in need of our prayers as well.

Hopefully, everyone will be safe....

[johnf]

Amen

[Bill W, NH, USA]

Our prayers are with y'all down there!! Stay safe.

[Cold War Zoomie]

Best of luck to all in a very tough situation.

At least it appears less likely to be another Katrina.

[David Habakkuk]

Amen.