Apologies to Rahm Emanuel

I am beginning to think that I may have been too quick to heap scorn on Rahm Emanuel for his advice to make good use of a crisis. It’s not that I am suddenly in favor of political opportunism, but I do see how this attitude may be helpful when assessing those days into which a little rain does fall.

The damage done to the Fukushima nuclear reactor might give some insight to anyone thinking of building a nuclear power plant near an active fault line.

The promises made by the Fukushima plant’s builder, Tesco, should give pause to the folks in Texas considering the same company for a nuclear plant near Houston.

The flooding in New Orleans after Katrina should teach the Army Corps of Engineers some humility regarding their ability to harness Mother Nature.

The unfettered development in the Mississippi delta with its resulting degradation of the marshes should make planners think twice before proposing another commercial/industrial project in those delicate areas.

The shooting in Tuscon or Virginia Tech or Columbine or wherever should make everyone who knows a troubled person less concerned about offending him and more concerned for those he might offend.

The sight of houses being washed into a raging flood which once ran peacefully might be a warning against putting settlements on the banks of rivers that flood occasionally.

The recent unrest in Egypt, Libya, Syria and etc. should assure doubters that freedom really is the heart’s desire of all people everywhere, even in the Middle East where many scoffed at Bush’s efforts to bring some.

The gentle wind of fiscal doubt that collapsed the world economy in 2008 should prove to anybody paying attention that we live in a house of [credit] cards.

The parade of earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, mudslides, drought, civil unrest, war, genocide, famine and fiscal ruin should convince the most carefree among us that bad things frequently happen. The question then becomes what to make of them. Without fail, someone will wail into the readily offered CNN microphone, “Why would God do this?” The atheist has no problem answering: there is no god and bad things just represent nature taking its course. The believer, however, must come up with an answer.

I do not consider the issue in a vacuum. My wife lost two children to miscarriages. My oldest sister lost her nine-year-old daughter in a house explosion, then her husband to a brain tumor. Another sister’s life was taken by cancer at thirty-three with four surviving children under ten. My father was stolen away from us by a sudden aneurysm. I experienced personal financial disaster due to the collapse in 2008. I could go on, but this is not about me. Into every life a little (or a lot of) rain must fall. Inquiring minds want to know where the umbrellas are kept.

First I think we must understand that crisis is not an anomaly. Jesus said it; Buddha said it; most wise men have figured it out: in this world, there will be tribulation. Think it not strange that we encounter it. Second, I suggest we should not ask why, but what: what can we learn from this crisis? If you believe as I do that God is in control, and that He acts entirely for the believer’s good, then every crisis is an opportunity. Maybe I was too hard on Rahm Emanuel. Maybe he was right all along.