Dear Editor,
As a Christian I know it’s wrong to question God. How can a created being ask his Creator, “Why have You allowed this?” I restrained myself the first couple of days, but I just couldn’t stop myself from asking: “Why God?” I carried on the conversation, “Why a Cat 5? The most devastating hurricane ever to strike our region. And why a direct hit? A Cat 1 or 2 would have been so much less destructive, Lord.” God probably did not intentionally send all this destruction our way, but He did not change its direction or intensity either. He allowed it to continue its deadly course unchecked. Maybe St. Maarten did not pray fervently enough, or maybe He wanted to teach us all a valuable, never-to- forget lesson.
How do we protect ourselves from the onslaught of a Cat 5? We can’t. No matter how well we board up our homes, man-made materials are absolutely no match against the brutal force of God’s nature. I have learned that everything in life – and I do mean everything – depends on God’s favour and mercy. God does not always answer prayers. We pray and pray, yet every prayer must end with: Thy will be done!
The day after Irma, I saw an entire family walking down my hill. I didn’t know them, but I still asked: “How are you doing?” ... followed by “how is your home?” They no longer had a home; they were on their way to a shelter. Another gentleman driving a pickup stopped and asked me, “How is your house? I told him I had lost part of the roof, almost the entire back porch and the whole deck in the back of the house. I then asked him about his home. “It’s gone,” he said. “You mean the roof is gone?” “I mean the house is gone.” My heart sank. I also heard of this lady who lost her roof, including zinc and plywood. Now, whenever it rains outside, it also rains inside and she gets totally drenched.
Yet, there are lessons to be learned from every terrifying experience, the more horrible the experience, the more we learn. A destructive hurricane certainly dampens our desire for material things. I remember that after we lost our entire roof in Hurricane Luis (please note that when the roof goes, everything in the house goes), it immediately dawned on me that material things are really insignificant. I remember telling my wife I did not want any more expensive furniture in the house. Was Irma just another reminder from God that we should focus on Him and not on our desires and need for material comforts?
Government should really consider tightening the building codes on St. Maarten. When I rebuilt my house after Luis, I was determined not to become homeless again, and so I replaced the roof over the bedrooms and bathroom with five inches of concrete. Should the rest of the roof be blown to smithereens, my wife and I would still have a place to stay. That decision paid off.
Unfortunately, I lost more than material goods this time around; I lost some flesh too. After working about nine hours around the house before the hurricane and another few hours on the roof after the hurricane, I noticed I had cuts on my legs and a deep cut in one of my toes (a diabetic does not feel pain in his feet and does not know what’s happening). The toe got infected and despite the attempts of my family doctor and a local surgeon to save it, I had to take leave of the little fellow four days ago. I never loved and cherished my toes before; now I do.
Regrettably, we don’t cherish something precious until after it’s gone. The remaining nine are going to get a lot more attention from now on. Even as I was being rolled into the operation room, I was asking God to save my (now) precious toe. He did not answer that last-minute prayer either.
By the way, my doctor talked to me about people who are smart-stubborn and those who are stupid-stubborn, and told me in no uncertain terms that I belong to the latter. A smart-stubborn me would have injected myself with insulin the required four times a day, and not just twice. To all my fellow diabetics out there, let this be a lesson for you. Stupid-stubbornness can lead to irreversible consequences. My little toe is gone and it ain’t coming back. Don’t be stupid-stubborn. Follow your doctor’s instructions.
Does God hear every prayer, even the silent ones? He certainly does. Does God always favour us with a positive answer to our prayers? No, He does not. Our Lord Jesus Christ on the last night of His life on earth pleaded in anguish with His Father: Father, if it is possible, take this cup away from Me, yet, not My will but Yours be done. He repeated this prayer three times. For our sake, yours and mine, God did not grant His Son’s request. People, God did not promise us a life free of hardships. Let’s accept what He has in store for us, whether good or disastrous.
May God help especially those among us who have not only lost their homes, but their jobs as well. God will help us to rebuild our beloved island.
Yes, our mountains will soon be green again, hiding the large number of galvanised sheets scattered all over their slopes. God is good! Give Him praise, no matter how hopeless things may seem.
Clive Hodge
