As the scale of the disaster in New Orleans reaches biblical proportions, it is difficult to know what to say. We live in times where scenes of massive devastation and incomprehensible loss, are becoming commonplace. Yet, that does not make them any easier to comprehend.

A major United States city has been literally blown and washed away. Along with it, the lives and hopes of its inhabitants. Thousands of people are dead, and many more are homeless, traumatized, and desperate. The entire civic infrastructure has been crushed, in a single catastrophic event. The streets are filled with water, and the water is filled with decaying bodies, toxic pollutants, and feces. In all, it is a scene that more closely resembles a war zone, than the thriving metropolis that stood there a few short days ago. A state of Martial Law appears to be in place, and America is reeling, from its biggest disaster since the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, that killed over 6000 people.

"We are here like pure animals, we don't have help" said the 68 year old Rev. Isaac Clark. Amidst scenes of a desperate crowd reciting the 23rd psalm, it is not difficult to agree with him, or to understand, why the people of this region feel that hope has abandoned them.

Already, serious questions are being asked about the role and conduct of the United States government. America is once again, a nation in the grip of a crisis, and the consequences, will be felt for many years to come.

For those of us watching from the sidelines, there is little that can be done. Except to remember those struggling in desperate conditions in our prayers, and to contribute to those organizations involved in the relief effort. Sadly, it has been demonstrated by past events, that some of those organizations have behaved in an untrustworthy manner with public donations. Therefore, we should exercise discretion in the manner and means of our giving. But give we must, because to do nothing, in the face of such obvious suffering, would only reveal us as callous and disinterested spectators, at the scene of yet another terrible tragedy.