Oh My! This Made Me Cry

Look at the beautiful gesture that some of my online and offline friends have made. I cried when I read about it. It's a lovely idea, and I'm touched beyond what I can express. Both Holy Foolishness and Fran had a hand in this, and if there are others, I'd like to give them credit, too.

Some of the same folks who were hit hard by Katrina were hit again by Gustav. Even now, as Ike passes south of the coastal areas in Louisiana, water is beginning to rise. From WWL-TV comes news that the authorities in low-lying areas are calling for evacuations.

The needs are great, and the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, along with volunteers from all around the world, have done a mighty work to aid not just churches and church people, but anyone who needs help. However, there is much more that needs doing as new needs arise in the wake of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Thank you two lovely people for honoring me in this way. My birthday is one week away, and this is the best present in the world. I'm putting up a link on the sidebar, because I believe firmly that the Bishop Jenkins and the people in the diocese are doing God's work here in south Louisiana.

UPDATE: Below is a picture of the current storm surge in Louisiana and Texas.

In Remembrance - September 11, 2001

I have not forgotten. I wanted to write a memorial for those who died on September 11, 2001, and extend a word of comfort to their families and friends, but I find that I have no words, only thoughts and emotions which I cannot express. I offer these from The Book of Common Prayer:

I am Resurrection and I am Life, says the Lord.
Whoever has faith in me shall have life,
even though he die.
And everyone who has life,
and has committed himself to me in faith,
shall not die for ever.

As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives
and that at the last he will stand upon the earth.
After my awaking, he will raise me up;
and in my body I shall see God.
I myself shall see, and my eyes behold him
who is my friend and not a stranger.

For none of us has life in himself,
and none becomes his own master when he dies.
For if we have life, we are alive in the Lord,
and if we die, we die in the Lord.
So, then, whether we live or die,
we are the Lord's possession.

Happy from now on
are those who die in the Lord!
So it is, says the Spirit,
for they rest from their labors.

BCP - p. 491

This post is mostly recycled from last year because of time constraints and because it pretty much expresses my feelings this year. I remember and note the day with deep sadness, but I have few words.

Below is the interior of St. Paul's Chapel near the World Trade Center, which I still consider the miracle church. However did the chapel come out relatively unscathed from the destruction all around it? When Grandpère and I were in New York a year or so after September 11, 2001, we attended a brief noonday service at St. Paul's. I was quite moved just to be inside the building which seemed even more hallowed because of its service as a place of rest and refreshment for those who worked at the site of the destruction. On an earlier visit, while the workers were still using the chapel, my sister and I cried as we walked around the perimeter of the fence when the memorials still covered every surface.

I probably should not mention Bin Laden in this post, but I will. Where is he? After seven years, many more deaths, and billions of dollars spent on two wars without end, he is still free.



Images from Wiki here and here.

UPDATE: Here's a link to Caminante's video of her tour of St. Paul's in April 2008.

Blue Tarps - My Obsession

Yes, I'm obsessed with FEMA's blue tarps to cover damaged roofs. They were stored in Texas before Gustav struck. One commenter here said that's where they should have been. I don't agree. There are places in Louisiana secure from wind and flooding where they can be stored, but even if Texas was the proper place for them, they should have been on their way to Louisiana as soon as the storm passed on Monday evening. They should have arrived on Tuesday.

No tarps came or were even on the way. Our governor, Bobby Jindal, sent the Louisiana National Guard to Texas to pick up the tarps, which arrived on Wednesday. He took the matter into his own hands. Good for him. He also used state money to purchase generators to keep essential services, like sewerage and water plants and gas stations operating. South Louisiana was also short of FEMA meals and water. What the hell does FEMA do with its big budget?

I have criticized Bobby Jindal many times recently, but I was impressed with his response to the disaster. He had the buses lined up and waiting for evacuees who had no means of transportation. He wanted things moving, and where FEMA fell short, he used his own state resources. His press conferences were too filled with numbers and statistics, but he was instrumental in getting help where it was needed. Again, I ask the question, "What is FEMA for? Where does their budget go?"

Bishop Charles Jenkins Blog

From Bishop Charles Jenkins of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana:

Saturday, September 06, 2008
A Quick Reflection on Evacuation (Saturday, September 6, 2008)
Nell Bolton, the Canons and I toured a bit of the Southwest Deanery on Friday, The Bridge on Hwy. 315 was broken and the Falgout Canal road flooded so we could not get to Bayou du Large. The devastation and need in Terrebonne Parish is huge.

As I drove back to my personal home in Slidell, La., I passed convoys of trucks bringing power workers into the region. I also passed convoys of buses bringing home those who had needed assistance to evacuate. The stream of autos returning to New Orleans has been heavy for three days. I congratulate the Governor of Louisiana and the Mayor of New Orleans on the evacuation effort for Gustav. I have been quick to criticize; my congratulations are genuine.

A lot of us will not be able to willing to go next time. Should IKE threaten, many of us will just try to hunker down. The infantile pleas of grossly inarticulate leaders will likely fall upon deaf ears. The Gustav evacuation demonstrated even to those of us who have some means, the frustration of not being able to meet our basic needs when nothing is available for purchase. We have now an experience, albeit it miniscule, of being poor. For example, even the rich are poor in Houma today. There is no electricity; there is little clean water, if any. I hope we learn from this experience.

A deep sadness of the Gustav evacuation was hearing the telephone calls on WWL radio of the poor who had evacuated and then been turned out of their hotels for lack of resources. Some who self evacuated did not have the means to purchase fuel for the trip home. I assume that those of us who rely solely upon a monthly check will get those funds when the power comes on. In the meantime, we have nothing to live on except the generosity of others. Many of us will not have the means, financially or emotionally, to go again. Some have said it is better to die here than elsewhere.

None of this should be considered an excuse to stay put if an evacuation is ordered. If we are called to go again, we must go!

It is joked that in New Orleans a common wedding present is an axe to put in the attic of your home. An axe in the attic is needed to cut through the roof if you must evacuate vertically. I am off to the Home Depot to replenish my hurricane supplies and to purchase an axe.

Bishop Jenkins

We're Back!

We're back in Thibodaux. It appears that we will be spared Hurricane Ike's wrath. The people of Haiti and Cuba have taken a bad hit. The storm raked the whole island of Cuba, along with giving grief to the folks in the Florida Keys. Pray for them.

My prayers go forth for the people of Texas, wherever Ike ends up in that state. I pray especially for Mike in Texas and Lindy and Rowan, that they be spared the worst of the storm.

From the comments, Mike says:

I too am watching Ike with some trepidation. Our move will take place on Thursday and Friday. The piano (a 7-foot Steinway) is due to be moved on Thursday. The furniture due to be moved on Friday. Should Ike head this way, things could be rather complicated. I'm always a complete wreck when the piano is moved. I can't even bear to watch them tip if over and remove the legs. (For those who know about such things, it's an unreplacable gem from Steinway's glory days of the 1920s-40s.)

Mike, I hope the piano move goes well, as well as the rest of the move.

Our water here in Thibodaux is terrible. It smells bad and looks dirty. The powers tell us if we boil it for a minute, we can drink it, but it's so nasty tasting and smelling, that I hate to shower in it, much less give a thought to drinking it. As soon as we drove into town, we could smell Bayou Lafourche which is the source of our drinking water. It's full of rotting leaves from Gustav, which causes the bad taste and smell, and I believe they're adding chemicals to try to fix the problem.

Many thanks to all of you for the prayers, concern, and good wishes through all of the hurricane adventure. Trust me. They helped get me through.

UPDATE: Thanks to you, Fran, for keeping all informed in my absence and for much excellent phone therapy. Thanks to you also, Jane R., for posting news, and for additional phone therapy. And you didn't even send me a bill. Imagine!

Update

There is a post about Mimi up over at Acts of Hope. Mimi and Jane spoke today on Monday.

It does appear that Grandmere will be back in Thibodaux, but she is not sure when she will have internet connection. Either way, she is taking a bit of a blog break.

But worry, not we will keep everyone posted in some way.

We all love our Grandmere!

Grandmere Mimi Update from FranIam

Hi kids-

Spoke to Mimi again, she is still in New Roads. They have power but her daughter in law left and the computer went with her.

Updates may follow, but she is fine so things will be quiet unless she posts or wants me to post something.

I am also turning comment moderation on as Mimi requested. It is her blogcation of sorts for now!

You can always email me - easy enough to find on my blog, if you want to know something. I will post something here when we get our donation thing set up later this week, I hope.

Giving Thanks

"...in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

A tornado touched down in the woods behind our property here in New Roads. A tornado ripped up a neighborhood near where we live in Thibodaux. I am grateful beyond what I can express that my family is safe and that all of our homes are relatively undamaged.

On the day before Gustav came through, I spent time reading the Bible, turning to passages that are comforting to me. The only Bible here is a KJV, with it's stately and beautiful language. I turned to the passage below from Paul's Epistle to the Philippians:

"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you."

Then I turned again to Paul from Romans:

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The same Paul, whose words I sometimes shrink from, that same Paul's words were a source of strength and consolation in my time of stress.

Then I turned to the wonderful Chapter 61 from Isaiah and the Beatitudes from Luke 6, where I was once again blessed and comforted.

Thanks be to God! Amen, and amen, and amen! Alleluia! "My cup runneth over."

Change Of Plans

We will not return home to Thibodaux today. It seems dove hunting season starts today here in New Roads, and the guys want to hunt. I wonder if Sarah Palin would like to join them. They could ask. She's such a hot babe.

As for me, I may just decide to stay here in New Roads to see where Hurricane Ike decides to land. Again it's a roll of the dice to know where to go, but we are provisioned here for life without electric power. I'm sure that Grandpere will want to go back to Thibodaux to run the generator for his freezer. My DIL thinks she will stay here in New Roads, until we know more about the direction Ike will take. I won't stay here alone.

Fran, my dear friend, thanks for posting. You can only post what information I give you, and I can only post what information I have, and GP doesen't always keep me informed of his latest decisions. They're in his head, but sometimes he ain't tellin'. What can I say? Didn't I tell you that we were a crazy family?

Mimi As Channeled By FranIam Once More

I spoke to our beloved Grandmere this morning. The power is back on in Thibodaux so she is headed back there.

Mimi does not think that she will have her cable modem for awhile so it is not clear how often she can post. She will try to use other people's access or the library, if it is functioning.

Otherwise, you are stuck with me kids for a short while longer.

Stay tuned for details about a donation site in honor of Mimi to the people of Louisiana. This is thanks to the efforts of this blogger and friend of Mimi. I am but the mouthpiece... something I do well (deep sigh) so I am to be grateful for and use my gifts as God has given them to me.

Speaking of which, it is not too late to help our friend Jane R who had a tree crash into her house in NC a week ago. Email me at festinalente07 at gmail dot com if you wish to participate and I will explain. (For those who have sent something - thank you deeply, I know Jane will be grateful.)

Thank God for community. Mimi is grateful and we will keep you posted one way or another.