A Tragic Reminder
I have been closely watching the events in south Texas since hurricane Harvey hit land. My nephew, Taylor, and his wife, Marsha, live in Rockport. Thankfully, when the evacuation order came last Thursday they were able to get out of town. Whenever I have a moment I want to be watching CNN or the Weather Channel to see what is happening—it is awful and riveting at the same time.
This tragedy has given us something to focus on besides national politics. Even in the midst of the tragedy it has given me hope—hearing stories of people rescuing neighbors and even people they don’t know; when the call came for regular citizens, with boats, to come--hundreds responded; a furniture store owner opened his stores to be used as shelters-“I looked around and thought, why not?” he said; the mosque that has opened its doors as a shelter; the city of New Orleans reaching out to the citizens of Houston—collecting money for them; neighbors inviting neighbors to shelter together. They were widening the circle of love to include anyone in need—it didn’t matter if the person who needed help was a Republican, Democrat, woman, man, child, a person of color, transgender, Baptist, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish. It just didn’t matter—what mattered was family, friends, survival, helping others, doing the right thing, being a neighbor. Tragedy seems to reduce life down to the essence of what it means to be human—loving others. There is no escaping the fact that all we have is each other and we are all in this together—it sounds trite, but tragedy reminds us that it is true.
What I always wonder in situations like this is --why does it take a tragedy to make us love each other? Why does it take tragedy to help us be kind to each other? Why does it take a tragedy to make us work together? Why can’t we remember the words of Jesus--
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Join us this Wednesday the 30th at the home of Taylor and Bobby Duncan, 804 Baltimore, for our weekly Bible Study on Galatians 5:22- 26. This week we will be talking about patience. It is the thing we all want and we want it now!
SERENITY PRAYER
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
The courage to change the things I can, and
the wisdom to know the difference.
- Niebuhr