Without a doubt, the most important local event this past year is the recovery effort following Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. In the days immediately following a natural disaster, the area is swarmed with emergency personnel, people trained to remove the damaged property, government agencies and the media.
Then volunteers come in to help remove property that can't be recovered, sort it according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's standards and salvage what they can. Many of those volunteers are work teams from churches that also bring meals for those affected by the disaster, who often forget to eat when faced with the overwhelming task in front of them.
Sometimes pastors walk the streets to listen to and be present with those affected. Sometimes they pray together.
Once all of the homes are mucked out, potential mold avoided and after the media leave, people who volunteered forget about their neighbor's need and go back to their lives. As we read stories of government grants, we think we are no longer needed because people can afford to hire people to rebuild.
The truth is, the longest physical stage will begin in the spring: rebuilding. Many of those impacted didn't have flood insurance and the funds from the government aren't enough to repair or rebuild their homes. Many of the homes will only be rebuilt through efforts like the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission teams, who work for free for a week and are replaced by another team the next week.
But there's a shortage of volunteers. Contact your religious leader to get a team together. Maybe you have to work with other religious institutions in town or even ask anyone in your town if they want to join a team. It doesn't matter who you work with, it's the people you help that are important.
Statewide, the biggest issue was the approval of same-sex marriage. For the record, religious people supported both sides of the issue. For Christians, it's a matter of how we interpret the Bible that divides us. Those who use a literal method of reading believe the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God with no human intervention, so when they read in Leviticus that homosexuality is an abomination there can be nothing clearer. For literalists, marriage is defined in Genesis 2 with the second creation of man and woman. These two taken together make it clear that God would not approve of same-sex marriage.
Those who read using modern methods of criticism, sociohistorical context and current scientific and psychological research dismiss Leviticus as what the priestly authors of that passage believed at that time.
Genesis 2 is among the early attempts to understand why two people who love each other become a new being. And we ask what it means to love our neighbors as we would want to be loved. In short, would we want someone to deny us the right to marry because of how God created us?
I don't think we're going to find agreement on this issue until we can find ways to respect and understand our different ways of reading. Unfortunately, we're doing a lot of shouting at each other and little of the type of reconciliation that is called for in Matthew 18.
Nationally, our biggest issue is the Affordable Care Act. It doesn't matter how you read the New Testament, there are more examples of Jesus healing people who were outside of the established health care system than other types of miracles or signs.
We've become distracted by claims that it will lead to socialized medicine and the fear of all things socialized that remains from the Cold War. Or we think people don't "deserve" it.
In the healing of the 10 lepers, Jesus heals 10 people who were ejected from society because of their leprosy or skin affliction. They are physically healed and sent to the priests, who would check for sores and admit them back into society where they would be able to support their families again.
One of the lepers _ a Samaritan _ turns back and thanks Jesus for the healing. This one is healed spiritually as well as physically. When we deny health care to those on the margins, we're forgetting the Samaritan and all of those who converted to a religion because they were physically cared for and were then able to spiritually heal.
Internationally, we need to prayerfully remember all of those who have stood up to oppressors this past year -- all acts of courage such as speaking out so we become aware of injustice around the world. If they have inspired you, then write your Congressperson and encourage him or her to pursue justice.
Rev. Lisa Jo Bezner is a licensed local pastor at Otego and Sand Hill United Methodist churches.
Columns
Area residents rallied after flooding
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
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My pal Brucie, savior of Sidney's hospital
Ask any hospital administrators if they've ever heard of a closed hospital in New York state that has ever been re-opened. They will say, "Impossible." In a half century of going through records you can't find any.
Continued ... - Catching a whiff of 'Vermont Vapor'
- Selections from the virtual mailbag
- Recalling days of 'Doughnut King'
- Opera great's visit still a thrilling memory
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My pal Brucie, savior of Sidney's hospital
- Cary Brunswick
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We've become our own worst enemies
The past month has been marked by a seeming unprecedented number of man-made tragedies, as distinct from those caused by violent outbursts of the natural world, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis.
Continued ... - Plenty of blame to go around for Bangladesh horror
- Obama is going against his word on Social Security
- Reflecting on a Florida trip
- Those magnificent spies in their flying machines
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We've become our own worst enemies
- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
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Records seizure is an insult to free press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
Continued ... - The evangelical view of same-sex marriage
- Manor's fate will be Otsego board's legacy
- A closer look at our economy - Part II
- Use fracking to fill budget gaps
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Records seizure is an insult to free press
- Lisa Miller
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A view from above
Fire towers in the Catskill Mountains have always been destination points, built to capture some of the region’s best views. These sentinel stations served an important role for the earliest possible sightings of forest fires in the remote mountain ranges. But the fire towers and those who manned them fulfilled a multitude of other roles as well.
Continued ... - Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
- A family era ends with close of Potter series
- Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
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- Mark Simonson
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General Clinton Canoe Regatta got a new home in 1972
Ever since 1963, when Charles Hinkley and a group of Tri-Town businessmen came up with the idea for what we know today as the General Clinton Canoe Regatta, people lined the shores of the Susquehanna to watch the canoeists as they made their 70-mile trek from Cooperstown to Bainbridge.
Continued ... - Sunday movies in Oneonta finally shown in 1934
- Politics, fitness and landmarks dominated local news in May 1968
- Local people sought income in many ways in 1933
- Local windstorm in 1983 caused tense moments
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- Rick Brockway
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Kids have sparkle in their eyes
When I was in my teens, old Bill Naatz told me about a stream north of Lake George where a man had panned out enough gold to make his wife a wedding band. It was all rumors, but to his grandson and myself, it sounded like the makings of a great adventure.
- People make the outdoors even better
- Turkey season has ups and downs
- Spring air isn't always the freshest
- Adriondacks keep growing and growing
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Kids have sparkle in their eyes
- Sam Pollak
- William Masters
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Schreibman tops Chris Gibson on women's issues
As the time to vote draws near, we need to remember how money can run politics more than we can. Raising funds is a prominent (if not the dominant) task of getting elected. Raising issues is also crucial, but those efforts are subject to distortion and fear-mongering.
- Republicans feelentitled to allthey can garner An entitlement is a legal benefit available from the government to individuals who are within a defined category of recipients, such as needing insurance for unemployment or health services.
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Romney focuses on self; Obama emphasizes unity
Mitt Romney criticizes President Obama for saying a person's success is rooted in his community, and is not all his alone. Romney belittles this with his belief in individual initiative. He is better at the put-down than the push-up.
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Romney shows little regard for common man
The Republicans in Congress have voted over and over, 33 times, redundantly and uselessly, to rescind what they call Obamacare.
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Scouts' gay ban creates problem where none exists
The Boy Scouts of America's "emphatic reaffirmation" of its vow to exclude any and all homosexuals from its hallowed ranks is ill-considered and pathetic, especially in view of its having reviewed the matter for two years.
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Schreibman tops Chris Gibson on women's issues
