This one is all about Katrina. I know I'm a little more sensitive about the 5th anniversary of the most devastating storm in our country's history than many people. More sensitive because of my connection to the Coast and my move from the Coast a mere 8 weeks prior to Katrina making landfall on August 29, 2005. I loved living there and those years provide some really precious memories. It is where Kyle and I began our priesthoods. Both of my children were born on the Coast, Katie in Mobile, AL and Betsy in Slidell, LA. Central Mississippi is my home and I love it, but the Coast was my home and in many ways still feels like home.
The Coast has always been a real "earthy" place complete with all sorts and conditions of characters. Everywhere you turn there's somebody with a story. Maybe it's some old koot in Bay Saint Louis who went to school and played football with Doc Blanchard years and years ago. Maybe it's somebody who spent their whole life there and remembers vividly when gambling wasn't legal, (wink, wink) but"everybody knew where to go for a card game and to play the machines." It wasn't uncommon to run into a former Rex (New Orleans, Mardi Gras heavywieght) or the Queen of Commus' grandparents. There's something about the water and the way of life that makes people get there and never want to leave. I knew it was time for me to leave and that God wanted me to make the move but seeing the area devastated by Katrina was heartbreaking. In addition it was so painful to see the people I lived with and cared for lose so much and see their lives changed so dramatically. One picture burns in my mind of some dear friend who I would describe as refined and always well groomed. I saw them just days after the storm in downtown Bay Saint Louis. The refined well-kept appearances were replaced by a disheveled, unkempt look. Their appearance just accentuated and profiled the devastation that affected the area.
In the face of that devastation I witnessed some very unique attempts by everyone involved to care for each other. I watched neighbors who didn't know each other and who sat on different sides of the "socio-economic aisle" work together and take care of each other. At least in the beginning they shared everything. People opened their homes to others whether they knew them or not. If someone had 12 gallons of water they gave 6 to their neighbor. After the National Guard arrived they shared MRE's and even talked openly about which ones they like best! I ran into a former parishioner (age 81) and asked him how he was getting along, he replied that the "boys next door are taking good care of me I am so lucky" The boys next door where a gay couple that prior to this time he didn't approve of.
Katrina brought out the worst in some people. But it also brought out the best in others opening their minds and hearts along the way. I believe that Jesus is bidding us to open our minds and hearts. He is asking us to not wait for catastrophe when we reach and look outside of our normal comfort zone. He is asking us to do all those things now not because it will earn us a spot on the citizens council or because it will earn us points or a place in heaven but because people need him and he operates through us.
When people work together and open their hearts the Holy Spirit operates in some amazing ways. I read a book called "Under Surge, Under Seige" by Ellis Anderson. It's an outstanding story about Katrina and Bay Saint Louis. In it the author talks about how a family from up the street and around the corner found their way to her house by holding on to a boat in order to keep from drowning. The amazing thing about that boat was that it was chained to trailer in the families front yard. It had been chained to that trailer since the womans son and granddaughter were killed in car accident 10 year earlier. The old woman is convinced that her boy and God made sure that boat came unchained and floated towards his Momma.
God can make amazing things happen when we work together in the spirit of cooperation, peace and love. It's been 5 years since Katrina and it is far from the place I left 5 years and 2 months ago. Even though there's been another setback it is still rebuilding and being reborn. It's hard, slow and frustrating but it is happening. Christianity promises us new beginnings and hope that's comes with our baptism. We have to hold on to that hope and believe in that promise even in the face of catastrophe and chaos. When we find it hard to believe and difficult to understand we need to look to our brothers and sisters to prop us up and hold us. That is how Christianity works. It works when stop doing things for gain but instead for others.
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