Remember.Recover.Resilience.Resurrection, v.2016
(This is an updated version of a previous blog)
For many of us, in the Louisiana UMC connection, Saturday August 27, 2005 is a critical time marker. That day, clergy and lay delegates to Annual Conference gathered at FUMC Baton Rouge to vote on the closure and sale of the UM owned Lafon Nursing Home in NOLA. After the discussion and vote, our Bishop, Bill Hutchinson, rose to give the benediction. He and his wife were headed to New Mexico to attend to the memorial service of Kay’s father. His closing words were, “Friends heading south, be careful out there, there is a strong hurricane system in the Gulf.”
Unbeknownst to any of us seated there, the contraflow had already started and hundreds of lives were about to change.
Tomorrow marks the 11Th “remembrance” of the destruction of the City of New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina. Actually, poor Katrina gets the blame for a lot of things that she did not cause. The truth of the matter is that when Katrina came ashore, she was a mere Cat 3 hurricane. The city had, on more than one occasion, withstood that kind of destructive force. And, early on the morning of August 29th, it looked like it had, once again, dodged the proverbial bullet. I know this because 200 miles away, at my home in Sulphur, LA, there were 7 of us (and many cats and dogs) who breathed a collective sigh of relief when the storm had passed and the city was still standing. Certainly, there had been considerable flooding in the “low-lying areas” of Plaquemine and St. Bernard Parishes. And, there had been serious “overtopping” of the protective levees of the MR-GO in New Orleans East. By this time, the worst of Katrina was bearing down on the Northshore. Then, the unthinkable happened: the levee at the 17th street canal breached into the adjoining Lakeview neighborhood flooding more than 80% of NOLA.
Now, it is no secret that I love NOLA. It is my home. After 11 years, I am pretty certain that the majority of people in this country still don’t “get” what actually happened to NOLA in the two days that followed the landfall of Katrina. I consider it a part of my mission to help people understand. What happened in the aftermath of Katrina was a series of man-made mistakes. That is all that I will say about that. If you are interested in seeing the timeline of the events, I encourage you to go to the Times-Picayune web page (www.nola.com) and find the graphic animation called, “Flash Flood” on the Katrina archives page. I have posted this site on my timeline on Facebook and would be happy to share it with any of you.
And, now for our 2nd “R” word: “recovery.” I returned to NOLA in June of 2006. I was appointed to help churches vision forward their mission as “the Church” in the post-Katrina reality. These churches had lost people, property or both AND had been in sustained decline for more than 20 years. One of these churches was Kenner UMC. This church was one of our Methodist Recovery Centers. In the two years that I served in this appointment, of the more than 42,000 people from faith-based and non-faith based organizations from all over this country that came through our UMC Recovery Centers, 14,000 came through KUMC. I think about this in terms of its exponential impact in the city of all the various denominational bodies that we worked alongside… Catholic, Baptist, Mennonite…too many to name and to number. Our primary mission was to help people, in whatever way we could to meet whatever their individual need to begin to “recover.” In many cases, we were putting “band-aids on heart attacks.” Often, we were digging through rubble to help find some piece of memory that might bring comfort to the ones who had lost everything. One group, found a homeowner’s wedding dress… torn and molded from the flood waters, brought that dress back to their home…had it completely restored…and, presented it to the homeowner on their following trip.
I could tell you the story of the family who, in the aftermath of the storm, had lost touch with their mother. Their lives had led them all over the country. They called and checked in on their mother, regularly. But, seeing her, they realized that she had hidden the fact that she was quite ill. She didn’t want to worry them. For them, the storm was a blessing because they were given the opportunity to make the last months of her life really matter.
Oh, the stories that I could tell! Sometimes, all we could do was sit, listen and cry with the one’s whose lives were forever changed.
I remember as the weeks and months after Katrina first ticked away thinking, “We are in the midst of a great diaspora.” Certainly, some left the area never to return.
I can’t help but think that this country is a little better off by having (even) a little bit of NOLA many of her fine cities…certainly, Mardi Gras is in places in which it has never been before… I have two friends who have brought Mardi Gras and NOLA food to their “new life” in a small, Pennsylvania town.
And, that brings me to our 3rd “R” word: “resilience.” What we are seeing, eleven years later, is a stronger, more determined and definitely more resilient NOLA. While there was much criticism for the state’s quickness in refurbishing the Superdome, I cannot tell you how big a part that I feel that doing this played in the city’s recovery. More than a distraction, the Saints were, for the first time, real contenders for the Superbowl in 2009. Do you remember the “welcome home” that the Saints received on a frigid winter night/early morning after their divisional loss to Chicago? Airline highway, from the Airport to the Saints Training Facility, was lined with hundreds (maybe thousands) of people in the middle of a bitterly, cold, winter’s night waving signs, “Bless You Boys,” etc. And, what can be said about the 2010 Superbowl win?
Today, the New Orleans Charter School System is becoming a model of effective Charter Schools across the nation. Several years ago, two United Methodist Churches merged to form one much stronger UMC. The predominately white “downtown” First Church merged with the predominately African-Amercan, Grace UMC. The two are now known as “First-Grace.” First Grace UMC is a strong, vital and vibrant congregation. A couple of years ago, there was another significant merger of two churches: Kenner First UMC and El Mesias. They have merged to meet the needs of the transitioning neighborhood as a “mission based” church called, “First Love UMC.”
One can drive through the city of New Orleans and her surrounding areas and still see a “mixed bag of stuff.” There are great signs of “recovery.” New neighborhoods and businesses have “risen” from the “waves of the great flood.” Carrolton and the areas around City Park seem to have gained “new life.” Other areas such as “Musician’s Village” and “the Lower Ninth” are showing great signs of vibrancy and vitality. (Thank you! Harry Connick, Jr and Brad Pitt!).
But, it isn’t all, sunshine and rainbows. Living back in the area, now eleven years from the storm, I am still amazed at how much “recovery” is yet to be done. I live in a fully recovered Katrina house. But, still, there are too many yet to be recovered. I am proud of the work of the Epworth Center (not just because it is housed in my present church, Aldersgate UMC) because of their commitment to “long term disaster recovery.” What this means is that there are still generous, life giving folks who continue to come to our area and rebuild from Katrina and subsequent storms. Even now, in the midst of this month’s “historic river flooding,” the Epworth Center and tens of thousands of us are committed to helping people “recover” from life in the midst of the storms.
Indeed, a lot of recovery has been made complete. Still, there are neighborhoods layered with the “blue tarps” of Katrina. Some are fully recovered. Other houses have been raised and seemed mostly recovered than others. Others seemed more “barely” recovered.
My heart is heavy. The truth is that, though there is (too) much left to be done in the “recovery,” NOLA is in many ways a much stronger, better, more determined city than it was ten years ago.
My heart is heavy. Tens of thousands of our neighbors to the west have lost everything in the “Historic Louisiana Flood of 2016.” For these, “recovery” is only really beginning.
The last “R” word is “resurrection.” We, as Christians, find ourselves and our lives dependent upon “the” resurrection…that is, finding new life in Jesus Christ. Every day, for us, is “resurrection” day. A “new day” to “find life” and lose our lives for the sake of Jesus Christ.
In this “new life” we learn that “stuff” is…well, just “stuff.” We learn that there isn’t a flood that Jesus cannot bring us through. We learn that there isn’t a sorrow or sadness that can’t be healed and made “whole” again.
There is always a choice and a challenge when tragedy comes to us: to stand in faith or to buckle under the weight and worry of the disaster.
For those of us who already consider ourselves disciples, Jesus keeps stretching our faith. Jesus keeps saying, “You have come this far, come a little farther. You have committed this much, commit a little more. You love these people, now open your arms to these people. You have compassion for the one hurting person in front of you, now broaden that compassion to all hurting people in God’s world.”
Jesus is continually trying to remold us into his likeness, which means that there is only rest for us along the journey…until the journey is “fully” complete.
This whole “Katrina” event has become for me a metaphor in my thinking about the way that we heal from our broken-ness and hurt…and, a way to move forward from the dark, difficult places in our lives. A while ago on FB, a friend of mine’s status was: “Trying to get out from under this rock.”
I knew that that status was a direct reference to the loss that she and her family had suffered in the sickness and death of their mother. This was my reply: “Hang out under the rock for awhile, you will know when to crawl out…it’s when looking forward gives more energy than looking backward takes…”
The key is in knowing when to “crawl out,” isn’t it? And, isn’t it okay to “crawl back” from time to time? Certainly. One must just remember that every moment of every day is an opportunity for “new life.” And, that that “new life” comes through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.
I love the way Jimmy Buffett says it in his “post-Katrina” ballad:
If a hurricane doesn’t leave you dead
It will make you strong
Don’t try to explain it just nod your head
Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On
Remembrance- Recovery-Resilience-Resurrection
These are words of hope, faith and life….
May they also be true for you…
revtlmack 