They came, and we are humbly thankful

Hello Massachusetts and Happy Thanksgiving. I have just finished my homily for tomorrow's service and stopped to check my mail before going to work in the kitchen. (My children are coming over from New Orleans and so I need to be "Mom" tonight.)

Thanksgiving is a reflective time for me as my memory of being in the "Pit" with The Rev Dn Daphne Noyes for Thanksgiving, 2001, is still very fresh - even after these six years. That year a group of National Guardsmen from Spartenburg, SC prepared and served dinner for us and the thousands of others who were working to remove the still smouldering wreckage. My gratitude to them for coming to serve is much like that expressed below. This letter to the editor of the Sun Herald came to me through email from the volunteer coordinator at Camp Victor, one of the volunteer housing sites in this area. I have pasted it here so that you who have traveled to MS and who will travel soon can get a glimpse into the depth of the gratitude that we here in MS feel toward those who have come to help.

"The following appeared in the Biloxi Sun-Herald newspaper on Tuesday, November 20, 2007. It is a letter to the editor from a grateful Gulf Coast resident. We believe it expresses the unspoken thoughts of so many people here. Happy Thanksgiving.

They came, and we are humbly thankful
When the wind died and the water receded, we were on our knees in prayer and despair — broken people with broken lives but thankful to be here still. Would we ever be able to rise again? So much work; too much work; where to begin?

Then they came out of their broken homes. Hand in hand, they came with chainsaws and trucks and chains and removed the barriers to our streets. Maybe we could, we thought, with help.

Then darkness fell again, so dark, so quiet, only questions and the sound of generators and helicopters. Sounds of life. Did anyone know of our plight? Would help come? They came.

They came by the hundreds, then the thousands. God had heard and we were thankful. They came — firefighters, military, police officers, doctors and nurses, linemen and engineers, truck drivers and preachers. They knew. They came. They all came.

The whole world came and we were thankful. They came and suffered with us. They came and lived in tents, slept on the ground, but they came and we were thankful. They clothed us and fed us. They sheltered us and tended our wounds.

They lifted our hearts and we were thankful. They came with full hearts and open hands. They sweated and cried with us, not knowing where tears ended and sweat began, and we were thankful. They lifted our spirits and helped us to our feet, and we were thankful.

They came — teachers and students and lawyers, craftsmen and laborers with strong backs and hammers and saws and brick and mortar. They came. They built our homes, our schools, our churches, our lives. Praise God, they came. They became us and we became them, as one.

With our wounds deep, our fears and memories fresh, they came. And as we heal, they come, still . . . still. With a full heart, I am thankful, we are thankful. Still. They come.

RITA DUFFUS
Gulfport"

Thanks to Massachusetts

Last night in Biloxi a cold front blew through. The temperature dipped into the 50s and the wind picked up significantly. Today dawned bright and clear, temps in the 60s, and a strong gusty breeze. I tell you this not to rub it in, but because cool temps and windy days in South Mississippi can only mean one thing…. Pecans! As I sat at my desk this AM I thought I was being attacked as the trees shed their bounty on the tin roof that covers the parish house. Bam! Bam! What a racket! So this afternoon we headed out into the yard to gather them up. We filled two large wheelbarrows and decided that our backs would prefer that we stop for the day. The abundant harvest of pecans reminded me of the hospitality and affirmation that I received in Massachusetts. It was beyond my wildest imagination and I will never forget it. Thank you.

Many of you know that thanks to the indefatigable effort of Tim Green I did not have to drive a truck back to Mississippi. Instead we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of an 18 wheeler filled with collected appliances and furniture. Thank you to all the folks in Wellesley who supported the project and to Tim for having the imagination and the energy to make it happen.

On several occasions while I was in MA I had the opportunity to speak about the importance of advocacy. The Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act is before the Senate now. I received the following from Amelie Ratliff today:

http://www.colorofchange.org/s1668/?id=1834-142331

Saving Affordable Housing in New Orleans

"New Orleans public housing residents have been fighting for over two years to return to apartments that were minimally damaged by the storm. But the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has shut them out, because it wants to demolish most of the available public housing units--and replace them with far fewer mixed-income housing.[1] The vast majority of the most affordable public housing units, pushing thousands of mostly Black low-income residents out of the city.

S.1668 honors the right to return of all New Orleans public housing residents. It requires the re-opening of at least 3,000 public housing units and ensures that there is no net loss of units available and affordable to public housing residents. It also designates $1.7 billion for rental housing assistance and earmarks millions for community development programs, which will benefit an even larger segment of the lower income population. But the bill is in danger of dying -- because some senators are opposed to preserving affordable public housing."

Please take the time to ask your senators to support it and then spread the word.

Happy Turkey Day
Jane+