Struck by Katrina but the Spirit Endures

To say that I have been deeply saddened and disturbed by the heart-wrenching images and reports of hurricane Katrina’s destruction and ensuing death and suffering would be a gross understatement.

Many of us may not live in any of the affected areas or have friends living there or even have fond memories of a past visit there to nonetheless have been directly and personally affected by this disaster at a very deep level.  Empathy has no boundaries, no creed, no race.

Money will undoubtedly be needed to repair and rebuild the affected communities and many will already have made contributions to, for example, the American Red Cross (or call 1-800-HELP-NOW).  It is evident that the psychological wounds however will be harder to treat and heal but I hope that these will be made somewhat easier to bear with everyone’s continued public support and care.

I have chosen to use the image of a jazz band because it is an art so closely tied to this area and one that will undoubtedly play an important spiritual role in its reconstruction.  I found its description by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and classical and jazz trumpet virtuoso Wynton Marsalis particularly moving:

“Jazz is something [African Americans] invented, and it said the most profound things -- not only about us and the way we look at things, but about what modern democratic life is really about. It is the nobility of the race put into sound... jazz has all the elements, from the spare and penetrating to the complex and enveloping. It is the hardest music to play that I know of, and it is the highest rendition of individual emotion in the history of Western music.”

My deepest heartfelt sympathies go out to all the people who have been directly and indirectly touched by this tragedy.

Treonauts have all been swept in Katrina’s path…