Is God in the Storm?

As we watch in horror the utter devastation of hurricane Katrina and the years of clean-up it will take to bring back some sense of normalcy, the question arises: Was God in the hurricane? If global warming is the cause of Katrina, one could say it is the result of environmental sin/neglect. In other words, we caused it, not God. Atlanta has received it's own micro-devastation, thanks to Katrina/God, but somehow we'll manage through much more quickly because Atlanta's just not as "sinful" as New Orleans, right?

Then I think about the psychological hurricanes even now wreaking havoc in the hearts and souls of family and friends who are experiencing a different kind of loss: a wife whose husband just walked away from their marriage; a single mom who repeatedly finds "true love" escaping her; a man who loses his job before he's ready to retire; a woman who can't get a proper diagnosis for an ailment that weakens her immune system.

Is God in those storms? Or what "sins" can we attribute them to and say it wasn't God at all!

While I believe in cause-effect and the part we play in the Dance of Life, I'm not so quick to say "why bad things happen to good people," or where God is in the mix. God is. The storm is. We are. And all we have is right now to have/adjust an attitude about it....or do something. Or just cry.