Response to Harlin's Post:

Harlin Seritt writes:

"It's a hard old world. Sometimes, you can do absolutely nothing when disaster strikes. I lived through something similar (though on a far smaller scale) when Hurricane Frederic struck Mobile, Alabama in 1979. We were without electricity and safe water for 2 weeks. When you're a kid you don't seem to mind it as much though. I remember thinking it was great that we didn't have to go to school for about a month (though we did pay for it later in the summer with some Saturday sessions). My father made us work during our reprieve from school by cleaning up the remains of a huge oak tree that had fallen on our house. While this may have been considered tough at the time, it in no way compares to the situation in the Gulf Coast today.

It is definitely true that disasters bring out the extremes in peoples' personalities. Some rise to the occasion, a few completely fall apart and others exploit the situation with violence or inciteful speech. I honestly offer no real solutions to a situation as we're seeing in Katrina except faith. Faith is one of those seemingly irrational expressions of the human condition when a person realizes they are in a situation they cannot control.

I am a Christian, however, I do realize there are other people out there who are members of other faiths. As a result, I cannot help but acknowledge that other people with beliefs other than my own are sustained by their individual faith in times of trouble. I realize there are no doubt many people who stroll on these boards that are Atheists or believe that God may exist but that He is unknowable. I would be curious to know how you get along when you're in a situation you have absolutely no control over. Are you stoic? Do you despair? Do you blame others? Or do you console yourself at least that this was something you could have prevented being part of and resolve to be more careful in the future?

I am honestly curious and I realize that people who have faith and are devout also have some of these same negative emotions when in a crisis. So, this is no indictment on people of other faiths or those with no faith -- I'm just soliciting some feedback. I would really be interested in hearing your take on things like this. "


Dear Harlin,

What you ask is very thought provoking. Many times, when our faith is called upon to help us through a situation, such as what is happening on our Gulf Coast, we tend to wiggle by, and we don't think about it much. We certainly don't shout it from the highest mountain tops how we feel for fear of what others might think, or how others may perceive us.

I find it very interesting that throughout this entire ordeal thus far, I've not heard Katrina referred to as "An Act of God". Not once. I've seen it called a "catastrophe" a "devastation" and a "Force of Nature", but not an "Act of God".

For me, the answers to your questions are fairly complex. And, they change with every situation. I founded and run a non-profit that deals with missing persons cases. Every single case is different, and every case presents very difficult and very challenging circumstances. I would say that I am unwavering in my faith. I know what I believe and I've found it to work itself out and show its credibility every single time.

That being said, when faced with uncontrollable circumstances, I find that I excel. It's a wonderful "safety mechanism" that was built into me sometime during my mother's death. If I can take control of the aftermath and work towards the solution, then I can survive and sleep with myself at night. If I don't...that is that I don't work to become part of the solution, I suffer from insomnia, anxiety attacks and headaches. The other night I had the migraine to beat all migraines, and it came from my inability to do anything for those people on the Gulf Coast. We are raising money, we've filled trailers with supplies and we have more going, we've readied our dogs to be dispatched (they leave Tuesday, as of right now) but I can't physically get there and do it myself. And, it's through that fact that I suffer. There's nothing that I can personally, physically do.

So, it's left up to fate and/or faith, however you look at it. It will work out exactly the way it is supposed to, and there's nothing you nor I can do to influence it.

As far as the looters and the anarchy that is happening down there is concerned...it's just beyond my comprehension. One of my handlers called me a few days ago just sobbing. She said that one of the cadaver dogs on another team down there was shot and killed by one of the evil-doers. I just don't understand it. They're there to help. They're there, putting their own lives in danger to help, and when I say putting themselves in danger...I mean from the elements, I mean from the filth, from the water and the general devastation that is there. I don't mean by the people. It shouldn't be by the people.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the officials are trying to help. It's not going to make it happen any faster by demeaning them and calling them on errors made. There will be plenty of time for all of that much later. So, for me, I don't understand the civil disobedience that's going on aimed at the officials. The officials don't have any more control over what's going on than you or I. So...for me, I still don't understand how they (the looters) are justifying what they are doing. Survival instinct doesn't equal killing or assaulting others. THAT is against human nature.

I'm a believer that in general, people are good. Even through all the hatred and evil that I've seen. I refuse to believe that if you put 10 people in a situation where only one is allowed to come out alive that between the 10 of them, they can't come up with a reasonable solution that equals life for all. It's all in your perception of what's right and wrong. If you believe that you have to kill the other 9 to get out, then I guess that's right for you, but it doesn't mean it's right. If I were in that room...I'd be putting all of my energy into the solution to get us all out alive...

But, that's just me.

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