My heart goes out to the victims of Katrina. The numbers get larger and larger by the hour. I heard on BBC just a while ago that the dead are estimated in the thousands.

As we watch these events unfolding I grow more and more concerned over the humanitarian catastrophe we are facing. I heard on Pacifica that their are over 1,000,000 persons displaced, out of work and soon to be in truly desperate straits. These people need shelter, food and security and that's just the beginning. They need to rebuild their lives, find work, permanent lodging and more. This could very well prove to be the defining moment for a generation of Americans.

Prayers can work miracles, this I know to be true. But, with a tragedy like we are now facing prayers are not enough. Maybe it is time for a rebirth of the Social Gospel, with a new agenda for the 21st century. It could serve as an ecumenical beacon through which people of faith could face the ills of the modern world in an interfaith fashion. The New Social Gospel would need a spokesperson such as Rauschenbush was for his movement. I don't know who this might be. There are probably a number of qualified folks from the Liberation Theology crowd, but would the have the gravitas to move the Protestant masses? I would love to see someone like Marcus Borg or Shelby Spong step up to the plate but maybe they would prove to controversial.

Jesus said "What you do for the least of these you do for me." And it tells us in the Epistles that "Faith without works is dead". I don't know if the Social Gospel will be reborn and I don't know if this event will prove to be the catalyst of such rebirth. But, I believe that people of faith need to do a whole heck of a lot more than mouthing a few prayers and tossing a few shekels. And, the rebirth of the Social Gospel would be one way to face the problems of the world and do our part for our less advantaged brothers and sisters. The situation for the average person on this world is rough to say the least. The genocide in Darfur, the millions dying of HIV AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, the plight of the innocent Iraqi civilians trapped in a war zone. There is a vast litany of abominations that I could enumerate if time permit ed and you know them as well or better than I.

If not the Social Gospel then what? If not now then when?