Paradoxes

PARADOXES

Waveland is beautiful.

We have clean lodgings, peaceful surroundings and each morning awake to the vast blue of the Gulf Coast. The air is clean, the beach has soft sands and one is surrounded by smiling faces and welcoming people.

But the wind has sounds of tears.....

It is like being in a beautiful church after a funeral. The church resonates the voices of a thousand people mourning their loss. The church is now empty..... the people gone but the pain and intensity of that moment lingers. So it is in Waveland. A year and a half later but you feel the loss. You see the remains of families homes;- teddy bears sodden by the water, an empty picture frame, a small box of beads, broken crockery, Christmas tree decorations, a framed certificate commending an oceanographer for her services, the remains of the book 'The English Patient' the cover darkened by the sun's rays. And with your mind's eye you hear the roar of wind and the loss of the people.

And yet there is beauty.

Entwining the skeleton of the damaged trees is new growth. Death by nature is balanced by the rebirth of nature and all it's healing beauties. New shrubs are blossoming bringing with them new hope and healing.

It is these paradoxes that I am trying to understand this first day here. It is a realisation of our human frailty and the power of the nature we live with. We must never forget the overwhelming power of nature and try to live in harmony with it for we shall never beat or control it. God's spirit is here. It is in the people, the new awakenings of the trees, it is in the very breath of the wind.

I am humbled and glad to be here to be part of this rebuilding project. A rebuilding not just of homes but for many, I am sure, a rebuilding of family and community. It is also rebuilding me. My faith and my own understanding of God. ( A never ending quest.)

It is difficult to write coherantly at this stage as I am still overwhelmed by what I am seeing and I am trying to come to some kind of understand for myself. There is much loss...but in that loss I am seeing hope, rebirth and spirituality. God is here.
Labels: By Linda

Today has brought a renewed sense of our connection, as Christians but especially as Methodists. Worship at Main Street UMC in Waveland this morning was a fantastic experience, partially due to the instant community created in sharing the worship experience across the attendees from many Los Angeles and San Diego churches and the local Waveland congregation. We were so diverse, but also one.

In addition, we found out today that, in addition to our 45 southern Californians here in Waveland, there are also 110 United Methodists working this week in Gulfport, and another 60 in Biloxi, coming from all over the country.

Indeed, we are part of something bigger than us; bigger than our individual churches, districts, and even conferences.

Sunday Morning

We're off to church in Bay City in a while... Dawn was crisp, with a great fresh Gulf breeze....