Hurricane Ike Hit US with Hard Lessons

The Law of Attraction at Work

By J. C. Spencer

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As Hurricane Ike took direct aim at us, my wife and I were summoned to evacuate her ninety-three year old mother from LaPorte, Texas. The coastal area was sure to soon be inundated with high winds and water. It was time to lock down, board up, and evacuate. Within hours, our home in north Houston had become a refuge for four generations of family members. A major evacuation was underway from lower coastal areas. We do not have mountains or hills in Houston but we name our streets after high and lofty places like Mountain Peak and Sandy Cliffs. We live on Ridge Top Drive with an estimated elevation of fifty feet above the Galveston seawall. One evacuee who would be staying with us was our grandson, Harvey (not his real name) who is in a drug rehab program after serving months in Harris County jail. He was allowed furlough for the duration of the storm. Soon Hurricane Ike would forever impact the lives of millions along the Gulf Coast.

As Ike’s giant eye became smaller and more focused, it became more deadly as it gained speed and power while its diameter extended some 600 miles wide. Ike was now a mean Texas size disaster. Death and massive destruction would lie in its wake. One news report indicated that Ike was coming up Highway 288 from the south and would catch I-45 north. We live less than two miles off I-45.

The calm before the storm caused me to ask, “What attracts storms? Why do bad things happen to good people?” What attracts good things? A scientist recognizes cause and effect and studies the natural evidence. Chaos spawned in the Gulf of Mexico was leaving its birthplace and was coming for us. Is this a part of the Law of Attraction? What did we do to deserve this? Is Hurricane Ike the wrath of God or just nature gone wild and we happen to be its path? The Law of Attraction is very real and each day we all attract blessings or curses with our thoughts, words, and actions.

Ike swerved to the right, leaving us on what is called the “clean” side with lower winds, less flooding, and potentially less damage. We suffered no structural damage to our home but two large trees in our front yard, missing the house by a few feet, fell across our driveway entrance and we were imprisoned for thirty hours. The power outage which has lasted for two weeks has been a major inconvenience. The sweltering Texas heat lasted only a couple of days as an unusual cool front from the north changed the conditions to a pleasant, beautiful, post storm weather experience. We were so grateful that we had suffered so little damage.

Harvey went with me on a scouting expedition within a fifty-mile radius of our home in search for ice and additional fuel. This trek proved enlightening in a number of ways. The Law of Attraction was at work with my grandson in a way I did not expect. He later revealed to me that during our five-hour expedition while stopping at a number of fuel stations/convenient stores, five different drug dealers had approached him. I was oblivious to these drug dealers and they to me, but these guys were drawn to Harvey like a magnet. He was able to tell each of them that he did not do drugs anymore and that he had served time, was in rehab, and was out on furlough because of the storm.

On KTRH, the main news radio station for the Houston area, I discussed on a call in talk show how refreshing it was to see churches, some caring companies and many individuals helping others by passing out ice and food and treating others like they want others to treat them. The oil executives saw the storm but did not see the opportunity within the storm. Their fuel stations dotting the devastated area, could have made a big difference by serving the people. They could have developed much good will with the public, and positively promoted their companies.

I asked the talk show host if he remembered “service stations”. He said that was before his time but he had seen them in the movies. I continued, “Not only do we not have service stations today, the focus is no longer on service at all. It was amazing to me how many major gas stations were out of gas or had gas and no way to pump it. All companies seemed unprepared to use their own fuel to pump their own gas either at their stations or storage tanks. Days passed with these major stations turning away thousands of would-be buyers.” The Law of Attraction (and repulsion) was at work here too and within days long lines at fuel stations were pandemic across much of the country.

People discussed on KTRH how FEMA, in its contribution to the chaos of Hurricane Ike, passed out lots of food to people without electricity, food with instructions to microwave before eating. They also had the radio and television stations broadcast the FEMA phone number. That number was answered by a recording which told people to go to the FEMA website. Once there, those in search of hope were then instructed to call the FEMA phone number. All this chaos is long AFTER the dress rehearsal of Katrina.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike some people expressed anger at not getting twice what was given to them. They had not learned that the pathway to all future blessing is found in gratitude. Every wakening moment we can be thankful for the next heartbeat and next breath. Look around and be thankful. We can build back after the storm so that it will be better than before the storm. It does not matter if your glass is half full or half empty – fill your glass and do not expect someone else to do it for you. If they do extend to you a full cup of cool water, thank them.

Life has more opportunities than challenges if we can but see them. There two types of people in a storm: those who are the victims and those who are victorious. You are drawn into that which you believe. The bigger the storm, the greater the opportunity. Storms often spin off many smaller storms. Hurricanes birth tornados. Big opportunities birth many smaller opportunities.

Swirling winds of chaos permeate areas outside of our atmospheric environment. Would you agree that chaos is in all of our systems, including governmental, social, corporate, educational, scientific, medical, industrial, financial, and religious? Needed are refreshing ideas to calm these obviously manmade storms. If we are going to survive the approaching storm, we must use an unprecedented model within each storm, a model that is based on results that soon become self-evidence.

Someone once asked me, “Why did God allow the world to get into such a bad condition?”

My response was, “Don’t blame God. Man spoke our condition into existence.” Man thought it, believed it, spoke it, and punctuated his expressions with the word “damn” and it became. You are likely to get that for which you are concentrating. The forces of nature follow.

I have been reading the book, The Secret Things of God by Dr. Henry Cloud. He wrote the book as a response to The Secret by Rhonda Byrne that explores the Law of Attraction and our relationship to the universe. The Secret attempted to explain the force behind an impersonal detached physical universe. Neither Dr. Cloud nor I would argue or disagree with the truths that are in The Secret, but we believe we have been entrusted with the secret things of a personal Creator.

A storm, a crisis, causes some people to turn to God for strength and personal growth. An awakening to new life is for those who ask. We grow in His plan only through being teachable through proper instruction. We then receive a measure of faith that produces greater goodness in us. Goodness can grow into a kindness to help others more. As kindness grows, it can produce a new level of patience that grows into a peace that passes all understanding. Added strength comes in the joy of loving and helping others. These attributes of love are what the Bible calls “the fruit of the Spirit”. (Galatians 5:22,23)

I was searching for possible opportunities within the coming storm. What if the Law of Attraction is as real as the Law of Gravity? If the Law of Attraction is real, then value and benefits beyond belief can come from storms to those who believe. However, it is up to each of us to gather these priceless treasures.

Your personal storm has washed diamonds into your path. Diamonds lay at your feet. The cynic, the critic without answers, steps on the diamonds and squishes them back into the earth. But, if you reach down and pick up the diamonds on your path, they will change your quality of life forever.

I was thinking that to find diamonds in the storm requires thinking outside the box. Name the box. The box, a confining area, denotes a limitation. What is the name of the sandbox in which you are playing? Think outside the box to change the box. To change healthcare, we must think outside of the drug box. To change government, we must think outside of the special interests box. The negative must be replaced with the positive possibilities of what lies ahead.

On the battery radio, I just heard the news of mismanaged financial institutions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac going under because executives cooked the books, rewarded themselves many millions of dollars plus financed their socialist causes. The world is coming apart at the seam and there is no zipper.

As I finish this article, the electricity is still off. A million families are still in the dark. One hard lesson I have learned in Hurricane Ike is that I was not as prepared as I should have been. We need to plan ahead. We need to pay it forward. We need to give more to help others.

The technologies, talents, and templates are available for us to help calm the swirling storms of chaos that permeate healthcare. The answer to the healthcare crisis is to stay well or get well. One of our projects at The Endowment for Medical Research is to train others on ways to lower healthcare costs. Let us start here, where we are, thinking outside the pillbox and educating physicians and the general public on self-evident results. When we each do the best we can with what we have, we will positively impact all of our systems: including governmental, social, corporate, educational, scientific, medical, industrial, financial, and religious. ð [Thanks to my MacBook Pro that powered my writing through the darkness.]

J. C. Spencer is founder and CEO of The Endowment for Medical Research, Inc, a faith based 501(c)(3) non-profit scientific education and research Public Charity and think tank based in Houston, Texas with affiliates and a network of physicians and healthcare professionals throughout the United States, Canada and a number of other countries. More information can be obtained from the educational website at www.endowmentmed.org/ Mr. Spencer is an international lecturer and is available for speaking engagements to help fund the projects of The Endowment. He and his wife have four children, ten grandchildren and reside in Houston, Texas.