Act of God.

Such an awful phrase. I’d wager most of the time we use it, we mean an event of severe negative consequence. As I write this, I’m watching coverage of Hurricane Katrina’s decimation to the New Orleans area. Two years ago, we vacationed on Alabama’s Dauphin Island with my extended family. One day, we drove to New Orleans. I think about going into the cigar shop (on Canal St. maybe?) watching as they rolled cigars. And that now, it’s gone. I think about the Café Du Monde store when I look at the can I now use to hold odds and ends, and that it certainly was slammed when the levee broke. And Kim reminded me today about how I ran up the concrete steps of the levee to see the Mississippi.I don’t mean to try and conjure a sentimental pseudo-personal connection to New Orleans. I honestly didn’t care much for the town. Not my kind of place. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t meaningful to thousands if not millions of people not just in the south, but around the world.[Michael Heilleman](http://binarybonsai.com), a developer who wrote the code for the theme I use here at my site, recently posted a [response](http://binarybonsai.com/archives/2005/09/02/new-orleans/) to the catastrophe that’s worth reading. Make sure you follow the link to [MP3](http://binarybonsai.com/files/nomayorinterview.mp3) he has posted with the interview from the Mayor of New Orleans.And then pray for the people who are destitute, homeless, penniless and grieving.