Here's the Thing

I am still tired all the time. Not from working but from the weight of New Orleans and man's ignorance. Keeping this journal has been cathartic to be sure and the love of my fellow missionaries both in our church and at Redlands have been an immense help but as I plan to go back to school to finish my third degree, I have to think about all the people who can't even get through the day without a drink or drugs or some type of anesthetic because they can't have their lives back. The only physical thing I can do is go back and try to help some more. Mentally, I can remember them, pray for them and make sure others remember... why are we all so helpless... impotent... I mean we as a people. We slip into complacency and just float there. Here's the thing... I would like to issue a challenge to all who can feel anything from the heart up... Write your congress person, go on the news, be in the paper, be in front of whoever will listen to you and make something happen. Never forget,,, never give up, never stop trying to make a difference. When the lights go out on you in the end, die knowing you lived. pray for New Orleans, pray for her people... pray for each other. Love every person like it matters. Stop bickering with each other and fight for the truth and for what is right. That's the meat and potatoes of it. The thing is,,,, do the right thing.

NBC News Story 1-29-07

Interesting news story here...short...(preceeded by a 15 second commercial...it wouldn't be TV without advertising). In the story you will see a reporter standing my this boat, "Noah's Arc". We were there. It is near the house with the tree that still has a sofa in it. Progress..right.

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=B5B19686-757E-4FC4-9284-699F60223056&f=00&fg=copy

A Reminder

Looking at the pictures, it all came back. The feeling that looking at these places was like looking at a graveyard. Even though alot of people got out alive, their lives were forever affected. These rotting shells were once homes full of children and animals and treasured belongings... all either driven off by the flood, dead or ruined by the negligence of mankind. Nature's fury not to be outdone by man's idiotic mistreatment of brothers and sisters that desperately needed help. The pictures, to the outside observer, may not look that bad but for someone who has been there and seen it, they are a poignant reminder of the tightness in our chests and the tears that came unbidden upon walking in this place. Names and deeds become unimportant in this context. It doesn't matter what these people did or did not do.. no one deserves this, no one should have to have this happen to them. It scorches me like the strongest gall to hear people say that because these people were poor and maybe on public assistance, they in some way deserved this. How absolutely ridiculous. We as a race need to stop this fault-finding and white washing of our guilt. Something has to be done in a larger sense. So, dearest readers, look at the pictures and let yourselves feel... feel angry, feel helpless, feel sad but feel something. Let these pictures serve as a reminder that no matter how wonderful we think we are, we can be laid to the bone. Laid low... and as a good friend of mine once said,,, who would come to help us..

The House on Feliciana Drive

This is how we found the house on Feliciana Drive. Located in the Gentilly Woods area of New Orleans, we had driven by hundreds of ravished homes. "Our" home was modest, yet inside it was very large with six bedrooms. The evidence of a family was everywhere...toys, dolls, romance novels. It had been partially emptied, but there was still much to do. We would spend the next four days carrying out ruined furniture and possessions, tearing out moldy drywall and cockroach invested insulation and pulling up linoleum and carpet. Wheelbarrows of trash went to the curb. Our mission was to at least get the house stripped of as much evidence of Katrina as possible. It was only a beginning.



For more pictures, click here or copy and paste this address into your web browser.
http://picasaweb.google.com/qwerki.rob

R

Out of Sight

Last night I watched the leader of our country, some would say, of the free world, speechify about how we need to go to Iraq and send more and more young people to fight for...what?

And, what was truly stunning was the fact that the recovery of a large portion of country, or should I save LACK of recovery, was not even mentioned.

If it is out of sight, it is out of mind.

Since I have been back I have been asked what it was like, what did I see. People are amazed when I tell them that I saw miles and miles and miles of ravished neighborhoods, homes still untouched since the storm, lives still unmended. Yes, many of those who were forced out of the area have gone on to what some say are better lives elsewhere. They found new homes and new jobs, and this when many of them were chronically unemployed. Does this mean we need a good earthquake here in California to get back on track, to shake out the ne'er-do-wells, to cleanse the state and start again? And who would come to our aid?

Whether it is shaking out or washing away our sins isn't this ultimately so we do not have to face how abominably we do treat each other? We need to come together and build a true family of mankind. Sometimes tough love is warranted. Other times extending a helping hand up is the thing needed. But we all need to be reminded of the Golden Rule and think about what we are doing..would we want what is being done to New Orleans to be done to us?

I am lifting the rug, (something I learned how to do in New Orleans), every chance I get now. We need to remember what has happened in New Orleans, at Ground Zero and in southeast Asia, (remember there was a major tsunami?). No more "out of sight, out of mind." That is one of the lessons of our mission trip to New Orleans...it is perhaps the most important one.

Rob

R

Day Four

Today is the first day I wake up not feeling hammered. For a few precious moments, I was okay. Good even. I am already beginning to see how our trip will bear fruit. A lot of people have said they want to go and do this thing we did. Lots of people want to feel what we felt and see what we saw. It occurs to me that the actual physical work we did is puny compared to what we brought back. It is a grace that only God can give to those who toil for the progression of His kingdom. I looked into the faces of those who went with me on this mission and their faces are diffused with a softness and a light that was not there before. We went to help, we went to see the destruction for ourselves and having done this, are forever changed and forever changing. The support we have received from those who went before us is overwhelming. Redlands UCC members and friends have been among the kindest and most understanding. Thank you,, thank you. Being the kind of type A person that I am, I am mentally taking note of who may be interested in going again and of those who want to go for the first time. It is an experience not to be missed and one that affects everyone who has it whether they notice it at first or not. I have heard of people who go on missions becoming consumed with the place they visit and help and I have to say that even before we left, New Orleans consumed me and now that I have seen her and felt her near, I am a zealot. Please, for those of you who read this and those of you who may be thinking about what to do with your life, think of New Orleans, come and mend her spirit and her people. Take the path less traveled and lend your hearts and hands.
To the ones who have been and to those who will go, you are beautiful. You are the salt of the earth and the soul of a nation. Know that you are loved.

Monday

I wake up feeling heavy... my body feels like lead. Every bone in it hurts.. my face hurts, the ends of my hair hurt. In church yesterday, we sang a hymn about going in and each doing good using their God-given gifts.. i cried like a baby. It is beyond wierd that I cry without provocation. I tried to clean house today and , unlike every other day of my life, i don't care if it gets done. Somehow, i feel guilty that i have a house to clean. I look at my baby and my animals and think of all the people who have lost everyone and everything they love and it just breaks my heart. I sit in the middle of my living room and cry for all the babies and animals that have lost their mamas and daddies... God, if the pain i am feeling is even one one hundredth of someone that survived Katrina, it is unimaginable. I don't understand why there aren't hundreds of thousands of people there, working house by house until everyone has a house, a home and things to put in it... Why?? I am going back as soon as I can and I will keep going back until New Orleans is whole again. I have to. I have to.