The Day After

I'll admit it. I was disappointed by the number of people who came to Shelter from the Storm. I'm not going to begin to dissect the whys of it all, for I've realized that's not what's important.

What's important is that we touched people's lives. There were those who walked the labyrinth (wish I'd had time to do that!). There were those whose prayers are now in the hands of our community. There were some who needed someone to talk with about their hurricane experience. There were some who simply needed to know who to contact for resources.

And the worship? The worship service was awesome! I was worried that we might get rain. Pfft! God took care of that and the weather was nigh perfect. Oddly enough, for a service like this, I believe it went off without a hitch. Our speakers were uplifting, even when talking about crisis, and no one got carried away and tried to speak for hours. The choirs were joyous! The liturgical dancers expressed so much so beautifully. Paul's song, written especially for the service, was bang-on. It was the perfect finale for the service.

And I believe God smiled. Those of us on stage couldn't see it during the service, but the sky became the most beautiful shades of red and purple as the sun set. Awesome!!

We swung for the hills, and missed. And yet, we didn't. It would have been incredible if the congregation had been in the thousands instead of the couple of hundred who were there. However, if we hadn't swung for the hills, the message of hope for the many might have been missed.

On the front page of the Beaumont Enterprise today, above the fold, was a marvelous picture of someone adding to our prayer wall. Below that is a picture of our Interfaith clergy holding hands and praying together before the worship service. The article speaks of the faith and hope we share as a result of our common experience in Rita, and the healing we've shared as a community.

The Enterprise reaches about 60,000 people, people who also need a message of faith, hope, and community. I'm not sure we would have been particularly 'newsworthy' if we had taken the safer route and sought a smaller venue.

What I do know is that God was in the midst of this from the moment of conception to its culmination. I have worked with an awesome group of people over the past few months, who helped to make Shelter from the Storm an experience to remember with satisfaction and comfort and hope for the future. Wouldn't it be incredible if this was the kernel which grew into a fully flourishing interfaith group in this community? Who knows what God has in store for the future?