This little light of mine...I'm gonna let it shine

The night before last, I started watching "When the Levee Broke" - a documentary on Hurricane Kristina by Spike Lee. I've only gotten half way through, and will finish it more than likely tonight because it's a rather long movie.

I didn't watch much of the footage of the hurricane while it was all going on; I didn't turn a blind eye to what was going on - but I didn't watch it. I just couldn't endure all the devastation and desecration of human lives on television again. I did contribute financially to many groups - and of course I donated tons of clothes and baby items to try to help as best as I could from a distance.

The hurricane and the lack of support from the governments at all levels has been such a politically charged issue, rightfully so. I do not believe that it's a racial issue though; I do not believe that the government was trying to eliminate a "race" from the states that were affected. And this documentary to this point that I've seen is not depicting it as such. It's clearly being slanted towards the negligence of the Federal Government, but at the same time - it's also showing rescue efforts made by the Coast Guard, the National Guard, and while it's showing the devastation of the floods - it's also showing the tenacity and strength of the human spirit of the people within the Superdome and the Convention Center during the storm.

There's one part of the movie, maybe two days after the storm where out of all the despair - a group of people start singing "This little light of mine". It didn't take long before the whole place was singing, and holding onto the hope that there was light at the end of the tunnel and that they would come through this nightmare and live to see another day. It was a small blip in the movie - and yet probably the one that had the biggest impact in the movie. While the images of corpses in the water, and children crying are horrible - it's this one small clip of the human spirit that had the lasting impression on me.

I don't know who's right or who's wrong; I don't know that had the levees been repaired prior to this storm if they even at that point - would've been strong enough to sustain the waters. We can say that they would - but do we really know for sure? Mother Nature is uncontrollable, unpredictable....and just when we think we know what she's going to do or how strong she is or isn't - she fools us. One thing is for sure though. The human spirit is stronger than anything that Mother Nature can throw at us. Will to survive and endure is unshakeable, unbreakable - and stronger than any levee will ever be.