Despite what the U.S. president claims about the nation's rescue efforts in Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria, most observers will agree that, over a year after this frightening storm swept across the island, much, much more remains to be done.  It's heartbreaking, really, absolutely heartbreaking.

     A couple of months ago, I was sitting next to a young woman, a native of Puerto Rico, as we flew from Madison, Wisconsin, to Chicago.  She told that she had just completed a year of study in the States and was now on her way home.  She couldn't wait to see her family again.

     "Has your family been without electricity?" I asked.  "For three months," she said.  "It was hard."  This young woman's family is among the fortunate ones.  Too many other people still lack electricity, not to mention access to clean drinking water.  For a country that is part of one of the most powerful nations on earth, this is particularly tragic.  What happened?
     Continue to pray for the people of Puerto Rico.  Although I refrain, in this instance, from treading into questions of "why, God?" I nonetheless invite all of us to embrace the fractured mystery of living in a broken world and pray for those who have felt, with too intense a force, its horrific malfunctions.