As I write this devotional, Hurricane Milton is looming between a category 4 and category 5 hurricane, and is expected to make landfall on the western coast of Florida late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. This troubling news comes in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which devastated Florida’s Big Bend region, and proceeded wreaking havoc in Georgia, western South Carolina, western North Carolina, and eastern Tennessee. (Find out how you can support the United Church of Christ’s Hurricane Helene Relief efforts HERE.)
Like the dynamics of Helene and Milton, a lot of news has been brewing about what’s going on in response to the storms. Sadly, misinformation and disinformation are legion. But especially in times of crisis, our lived experiences and firsthand testimonies help illuminate clearer paths toward healing, wholeness, and genuine hope.
We find this in some of Paul’s letters that met faith communities where they were, and encouraged them in their struggles to build a life of following Jesus against all odds: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). And we still find it today in communications between faithful people who maintain Paul’s instructions to “rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer” (Romans 12:12).
I’m referring to a note that a couple of church members shared with Pastor Brooke, Pastor Trent, and me from the deacon at an Episcopal church in Black Mountain, North Carolina, just east of Asheville, where they were members for five years before moving to College Station. From the deacon’s letter: “We finally have fairly stable internet at the church, so I want to send an update. I still have no water, power, internet, and only marginal cell service at home. But the insurance adjuster came today, and power trucks are all over town. Water is another story, and we have no timeline for restoration. The water system suffered catastrophic damage. But my daughter lives 30 minutes away, and she has everything. So, I had my first hot shower in nearly 10 days on Saturday, and she did some laundry for me. Police, fire and rescue, and power companies have come from all over the U.S. and Canada. The National Guard and FEMA are here. Supplies and Starlink systems are flowing in and being delivered to folks who are still stranded. I continue to volunteer as are so many others. There are days when I go home and just weep. Though the rebuilding will take months if not years, we have much for which to be grateful. My dear church had a service yesterday. We knew a lot of our folks are out of town, but we still had 60+ show up. We told stories, and cried, and hugged, and sang, and shared bread and wine. It was a healing time for all of us. Continue to pray for Western North Carolina.”
To me, that note read like a letter from the New Testament, where news of suffering and hope are shared, and we are reminded that no one is alone in their strife. Notes like this one out of a church in North Carolina remind me of the steadfast love of God that resides in each of us by the gift of the Holy Spirit. It reminds me of our shared call to reach out to one another in our time of need, because that reaching out reveals the compassion of Jesus who desires for no one to be cut off from community, for no one to be divided from their neighbor, for no one to be left alone.
As today’s news swirls like hurricanes, may we maintain joy, be patient in turmoil, and persist in prayer for the sake of our neighbor, one another, and the compassionate community Christ calls us to cultivate on earth as it is in heaven. Let this be our focus as we reach out for one another, so that “healing, wholeness, and genuine hope” would be the only headline that matters for all of us.
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