Monday, December 1, 2008

Advent 2008

The rector's sabbatical has ended and I anticipate having some time to do some things that have been on the back burner since September. Gustav seems eons ago, but the debris piles are - sadly - still on the beach. Apparently the Feds and the Staties cannot decide who should pay for the truck to haul them away and so they will sit. It has made the ants quite happy as they have ready made mounds.

The last of the FEMA parks in Harrison County shut down last week. March 1 will mark the end of federal disaster aid. No more housing, no more mental health help. And for sure part of me recognizes that much of the poverty here now is no different from the poverty in Boston or any place else. At some point each community must begin to work to better itself.

It is a strange thing though that we have not recovered in some mysterious ways. How can I describe it? Across class and race and economic status similar issues have arisen around personal recovery. Why is it taking so long? What is wrong with me? These are common questions in groups and in individual counseling. Katrina seems to have taxed us beyond what we expected it to do. The reminders just do not go away and the tears can flow easily.

This month I plan to go to NOLA and get my hands into some sheet rocking. I also hope to return to Cameron to see how that recovery is progressing. Time is a wonderful gift and I hope to use these weeks to let the sounds and images of the Gulf Coast wash over so that I will be warmed by them when I return to Massachusetts in February.

Blessed Advent,
Jane+