Two years and counting

In our baptismal promises we commit to seek justice for all human beings, to love others as we love ourselves, and to proclaim the Good News. Those commitments of Justice, Compassion, and Hope were the foundation upon which the first of many somber services held across the Gulf Coast to remember the tragedy of Katrina was built. A couple of months ago I was asked to create a liturgy for an intefaith memorial service to mark the 2nd aniversry of Katrina. Many phone calls and google searches later a sunrise service was birthed. I had not seen the pictures of the service until I ran across them in the GCP blog (www.gracebook.org) . The day before we had rain - lots of it. I was afraid that Gulfside Assembly, where the service was to be held, would be a mud hole. I had images of cars stuck and tractors coming to haul them out - after all much of the town of Waveland is still a wasteland beside the now tranquil waters of the bay. But as you can see from the pictures it was beautiful. People came from Biloxi and from New Orleans to remember and to commit themselves to the task ahead, to plant the seeds of justice, compassion, and hope in the hearts of all who still suffer in the aftermath of Katrina’s wrath.

I have read a lot lately about the “competition” between Louisiana and Mississippi for federal and private sector funding. Mississippi accuses New Orleans of getting all of the attention and being more “interesting” than Mississippi’s devastation. New Orleans and Louisiana accuse Mississippi of engaging in partisan politics in the granting process. Louisiana says that Mississippi got more money per victim than Louisiana and Mississippi says that their proposal was better and too bad that Louisiana did not get their act together in time to make a valid plea for help. Back and forth – I have to say that sometimes I just want to say “Enough already – there is enough suffering for all – we need to stand together!” The complexity of these issues rivals the Gordian Knot and will probably require the same solution.

But the reality in Mississippi is that very little of the money that has been allocated has gone to assist the poorest of the poor. In New Orleans the reality is the same. Money has gone to restore infrastructure, businesses, federal projects, and middle income homes, but precious little is left over to go to the poor. The justice work that I am involved in here in MS is largely coordinated out of the Steps Coalition. I have written about this group before. On the surface it is a jumble of non-profits with very little power, but standing together we have forced the hands of the governor’s office to produce the date included at the end of this blog. Dry as it seems it is necessary to have such data in order to know for whom we must advocate and to whom we must make our case. The work is slow and frustrating, but it has its moments.

I came to Mississippi to help rebuild a parish and to be the “person on the ground” for Massachusetts, but more and more I see my work being the spark that ignites hope in those people who can do the most to rebuild, the people who live here. For sure none of the work we have done would have been possible without the help of volunteers, but in the end it is Mississippians and Louisianians who must create a future here. As for me I am working one person at a time. I am engaging the parish in the work. I have written before about some of our projects, but I think it is important to repeat that a major focus for me is to involve the people here in the work of rebuilding and then reaching out to help others. We are trying to live with a spirit of abundance in the midst of devastation because we know that it is not buildings or roads that make us rich – it is the relationships that we have gained in being served by the people of Massachusetts and elsewhere and those we have forged by reaching out ourselves. I am beginning to extend my work into New Orleans by helping St Anna’s to set up point of care testing for their free medical van. They are a wonderful group of committed Christians who do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God through the street of the Ninth Ward and Chalmette.

Homelessness, hunger, violence, all of these are increasing at alarming rates here. One of our parishioners is a case worker who points to the uncertainty that permeates our lives. She sees a lot of post traumatic stress. But she says the most common word used to describe the feeling now with hurricane season actively underway is fear. Fear makes people do strange things. It makes us distrustful, suspicious, and it turns on our self-protective mode. The fear that we on the coast have comes from not knowing when another storm will come and destroy all that we have built. It comes from not knowing if the government can be trusted - depended on to keep the infrastructure safe, support the needy, protect us from manmade or natural danger. Fear is the opposite of faith and it is a paralyzing condition. If I do nothing else while I am here except offer a source of hope and encouragement to those who are struggling each day to maintain faith and courage to go on, I will have done God’s work. In the end that work, done by the thousands of volunteers who came and continue to come is the much more important than how any nails are hammered or how many walls are painted. We must keep coming because we are the source of hope and hope is born out of our faith. As Christians we are bound by Christ in an undulating web of support. When my faith flags, your faith sustains me. Together we look forward to a time when the seeds we are planting now, will flower into tall oaks with branches to support generations to come.

Some interesting data:
The amount of money allocated by both federal and private sectors has been beyond comprehension. If that is true then why did the Holloway couple have to come to me today to ask for help to pay the electric bill for their FEMA trailer? Here are some statistics: 116 billion allocated for all of the Gulf Coast (AL, MS, LA, TX). Mississippi requested 34 billion and received grant of 23.5 billion. The GAO reports that FEMA lost 1 of every 6 dollars to waste, fraud, and abuse. Of the 23.5 billion to Mississippi: 10 billion went to the environment, 4.3 billion went to repair federal facilities, 1.04 billion was split among 14, 423 MS homeowners. The homeowners who were eligible were those making 80% to 120% of the average median income. In MS for a family of 4 that number is $58,000. Now you know why so many former homeowners have not been able to rebuild. They do not make $48,000 per year – not even close. In fact, the poverty rate in Mississippi in 2006 stands at 21%. In Harrison county the per capita income is just over $20,000. (data is taken from Sun Herald on various days. www.sunherald.com)