I lit a candle in his memory at the St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square in New Orleans yesterday. I don't know his name but I do know where he died--and it was a very lonely death. He decided to ride out Hurricane Katrina at the top end of Lake Pontchartrain in a house set on pylons just at the edge of the lake. There's nothing left of the house except the sticks on which it sat.
I've been in New Orleans for the last couple of days--killing several birds with one stone. Reid Doster, Disaster Response Coordinator for Louisiana CBF, was gracious enough to cart me around for a couple of days to review all the work that so many churches and individuals have done in Pearlington, MS and Lacombe, LA and New Orleans. We chatted with pastors whose families and congregations have been so affected by the storm. I also spoke at St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church where Steve Meriwether is pastor and heard from him about the good work of that church in building and restoring homes for those whose homes were destroyed. Oh . . . and I loaded up my daughter's dorm room at Tulane University!
I've listened to a good many stories of the storm--and sensed in folks the weariness and endurance that is demanded in the midst of the effort to recover. There's not much to say. It's a daily struggle to work through it. Rev. Ike Mayfield of New St. Mark's Baptist Church offered a powerful word about the good that has come in the midst of it all--"It's been the relationships that I've formed that have made the difference," he said. And he spoke of the churches and individuals who simply came and worked on his church and helped him with rebuilding his home.
And I thought again about how much we need each other--and about how no one ought to have to die alone. I guess that's why I lit a candle in memory of a man I never knew.
I've been in New Orleans for the last couple of days--killing several birds with one stone. Reid Doster, Disaster Response Coordinator for Louisiana CBF, was gracious enough to cart me around for a couple of days to review all the work that so many churches and individuals have done in Pearlington, MS and Lacombe, LA and New Orleans. We chatted with pastors whose families and congregations have been so affected by the storm. I also spoke at St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church where Steve Meriwether is pastor and heard from him about the good work of that church in building and restoring homes for those whose homes were destroyed. Oh . . . and I loaded up my daughter's dorm room at Tulane University!
I've listened to a good many stories of the storm--and sensed in folks the weariness and endurance that is demanded in the midst of the effort to recover. There's not much to say. It's a daily struggle to work through it. Rev. Ike Mayfield of New St. Mark's Baptist Church offered a powerful word about the good that has come in the midst of it all--"It's been the relationships that I've formed that have made the difference," he said. And he spoke of the churches and individuals who simply came and worked on his church and helped him with rebuilding his home.
And I thought again about how much we need each other--and about how no one ought to have to die alone. I guess that's why I lit a candle in memory of a man I never knew.
1 comment:
One of the ways I know I've made a new friend is that I can simply ride down the road with him, enjoying the stillness, without really having to say anything in particular to fill the air, and can feel totally relaxed. My thanks to Rob for caring enough to just BE, to indulge my occasional mutterings, letting me pour out wheat and chaff together. Then, with the breath of kindness, gently blowing the chaff away.
Reid Doster
CBF Louisiana
Disaster Response
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