It's been two years since my last trip to New Orleans to help in the relief effort from Hurricane Katrina. (One photo is of me next to a pile of rubbish pulled from a church in the First Ward the other is of more debrist in front of the church. If I look hot and tired, I was it was staggeringly humid that day. If I think hard enough I can still remember the putrid smells of rotting food and growing mold. The church was the First Church of the Nazarene in New Oleans, I believe on Jefferson Street if you want to mapquest the location. It was right off the freeway that was featured so frequently on the news)
I will never forget my first impressions when I made my first of five trips down in October 2005, just weeks after the Hurricane hit and the levees failed. Devastation and ruined housing as far as the eye could see. Boats on freeway off ramps and the darkness. The darkness was what made the biggest impression on me.
Imagine driving from Flint to Detroit on I-75 at night and not seeing one street light, one house light, it was something out of a horror novel. That's what it's like. One night coming back from our work, we accidentally took a wrong exit and found ourselves in the middle of a once busy neighborhood that was now deserted and dark.
It was eerie, unsettling and a feeling I don't think I will ever forget. Whole car dealerships full of ruined cars, large shopping centers completely deserted and very few people in evidence anywhere.
Things steadily improved until I made my last trip, about this time two years ago. But saying "improved" was relative and while some FEMA trailers were in evidence in the neighborhood where we were working, there was still an unbelievable amount of work done.
I bring all this up, because I was having a conversation on another website Monday about what we do without our money.
A new friend of mine, Brad Culver, who is a pastor in Canada, has a unique perspective on the "Christian" church. I always called myself a Christian, but Brad suggested for many of us we are really "followers of Jesus" and not Christians.
Why? Because if you tell someone you are a Christian, you have to spend an hour telling people what you are not, thanks to folks who use the label, but don't always live the way Jesus called us to live.
I have many friends, a couple who frequently read this blog, who aren't really believers, but they live their lives in a way that Jesus would love. They help people, they are concerned for people and they are kind and gentle.
After the five trips to New Orleans, I have contributed to a lot of causes and needs, and my own church, of course, but I miss the feeling I had on my trips to New Orleans. That feeling of doing something for someone else for no reason but that it had to be done.
I love what Brad Culver said, I love how he meets people where they are, without judgement, and helps get them closer to where they need to be.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Romans 3:23, which roughly says we are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. It reminds us not to dump on others when they fall short in the human department because we also fail.
So today, I'm going to take a break from the criticism of the newspaper industry and just remember how it felt to do something nice for someone who needed it.
So if this little sermon prompts you to do something nice for someone, good for you.
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