Yesterday, I found this article on a law firm's website. It was written a day or two after the Nashville flooding. It is part historical detail, part reflection, and part advice for people as they go back to their homes to see what can be salvaged.
I can only imagine what it was like for the residents of Nashville to return to their homes and find them destroyed. Then to call their insurance companies only to find their homeowners insurance doesn't cover flooding. From what I can tell, few people had the extra coverage. I cannot understand the depth of the heartbreak of those who lost loved ones and those who lost the place they called home.
What I CAN understand, at least a tiny bit, is the joy that comes in helping one's neighbor in a time of need. Earlier this week, our church had a little mini-flood in the basement. Nothing major...nothing ruined. I just made a few phone calls to people with shop vacs and we had the whole place cleaned up in an hour. It wasn't exactly the way I had hoped to start a Monday, but when stuff like that happens, you drop what you're doing and get to work.
It seems to me that in those 60 minutes taking care of our church building, we had a little glimpse of how the people of Nashville must have felt as they helped their neighbors sort through the wreckage of their homes. Those of us who participated in the "be the church" day on Saturday saw a glimpse of the beauty of neighbors helping neighbors. ANY time we reach out to help someone in need...when we share God's love with those whom others have deemed unlovable...that is when we ARE the church, which is sort of Frankfort's unofficial motto for 2011.
And that is what we will do in Nashville...we will "be the church" for them.
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