LIGHT TO THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS
“By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:78
As we return from our flood relief mission trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and I look at the calendar, I am struck that the Advent/Christmas/Epiphany season will soon be upon us. In the spirit of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, and his prophecy that we call The Benedictus (Latin: the blessing or praise), I am reflecting on the light that shone in the darkness two thousand years ago and continues to do the same even today.
These are the facts: The Cedar River is 300 miles long. As a result of severe rains in the Cedar River watershed last spring, the river flooded its banks from June 8-21, 2008. At its crest, the Cedar River was 27 feet above normal, flooding more than five thousand homes and one thousand businesses along the river. The Midwest flooding made headline news for about a week in June and was forgotten thereafter. Several phone calls to churches and disaster relief agencies in the area led me to conclude that it was right for us to head west rather than south for our November relief trip this year. One of the houses flooded in Cedar Rapids was located three blocks from the river. It belonged to a man named Jose who was born in El Salvador and has lived in Cedar Rapids for eighteen years. By the tender mercy of our God our relief team was led to that house for a week of work.
Jose works as a manager for a hotel in Cedar Rapids and his wife has an administrative position at a college. They have three children. They own six rental homes. Five of them were flooded! Jose had purchased the home that we worked in for $35,000 and added $50,000 of improvements to it. It was a very nice little house. Before he could rent it for the first time it was flooded. Given the economics of the situation, Jose could have turned the keys over to the bank but he told us that he didn’t want to do that. He had a real fighting spirit which we really appreciated. It is very rewarding to help somebody like Jose! Unfortunately, in the current economic environment, Jose is finding it very difficult to negotiate with his lender. He faces an uphill battle, but somehow I suspect that he is up to the challenge.
The group of volunteers that worked before us put new subfloor in the house. Our task was to replace insulation and sheetrock as high as four feet up on the first floor of the house. I suspect that the next volunteer crew will tape and mud and the crew after that will paint. With each volunteer work crew Jose is one step closer to recovering one of his properties….and light is given to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death!
I found the situation in Cedar Rapids to be much like what I experience in New Orleans, except on a much smaller scale. Blocks of homes were unoccupied and boarded up. Piles of mucked debris lay in front of many homes. We even saw one house that had just caved in on its foundation hours before we stumbled upon it! The downtown area is vacant and most businesses evidence no sign of recovery. Certainly the current economic situation exacerbates any recovery efforts. The picture is bleak and sad. As you drive around these areas devastated by flooding your gut is wrenched and your heart aches for people who have suffered great loss. If there is any hope it is that the churches are the ones who are providing relief and light to those affected! That is the same reality that we have heard from people in the Gulf.
I have found that these relief trips are spiritually deep and very rewarding on many levels. On this particular trip, given the current economic situation, I came back home with a few reflections; the “loss” in my pension account doesn’t seem quite so large! I am not getting a salary increase in 2009, but I am very thankful to be employed in my vocation. We are very lucky to live in an area of the country that is relatively unaffected by natural disasters. The spirit of Christians working together and motivated by Jesus to shine light into darkness is a beautiful thing! The challenges caused by natural disasters are monumental but each of us can make a small difference by extending the mercy of God to those in need! I didn’t spend any money in Cedar Rapids, but I did “buy” my first Christmas present this year; a week of my time and a small wooden cross gifted to an appreciative stranger named Jose. “Just as you did it to the least of these who are members of my family…” (Matthew 25:40)
So what hope do I have after a week of volunteer work in Cedar Rapids? Maybe some day I’ll return to that city and see a family renting Jose’s house and like Zechariah, my heavy heart will sing The Benedictus!
Peace, Pastor
“By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:78
As we return from our flood relief mission trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and I look at the calendar, I am struck that the Advent/Christmas/Epiphany season will soon be upon us. In the spirit of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, and his prophecy that we call The Benedictus (Latin: the blessing or praise), I am reflecting on the light that shone in the darkness two thousand years ago and continues to do the same even today.
These are the facts: The Cedar River is 300 miles long. As a result of severe rains in the Cedar River watershed last spring, the river flooded its banks from June 8-21, 2008. At its crest, the Cedar River was 27 feet above normal, flooding more than five thousand homes and one thousand businesses along the river. The Midwest flooding made headline news for about a week in June and was forgotten thereafter. Several phone calls to churches and disaster relief agencies in the area led me to conclude that it was right for us to head west rather than south for our November relief trip this year. One of the houses flooded in Cedar Rapids was located three blocks from the river. It belonged to a man named Jose who was born in El Salvador and has lived in Cedar Rapids for eighteen years. By the tender mercy of our God our relief team was led to that house for a week of work.
Jose works as a manager for a hotel in Cedar Rapids and his wife has an administrative position at a college. They have three children. They own six rental homes. Five of them were flooded! Jose had purchased the home that we worked in for $35,000 and added $50,000 of improvements to it. It was a very nice little house. Before he could rent it for the first time it was flooded. Given the economics of the situation, Jose could have turned the keys over to the bank but he told us that he didn’t want to do that. He had a real fighting spirit which we really appreciated. It is very rewarding to help somebody like Jose! Unfortunately, in the current economic environment, Jose is finding it very difficult to negotiate with his lender. He faces an uphill battle, but somehow I suspect that he is up to the challenge.
The group of volunteers that worked before us put new subfloor in the house. Our task was to replace insulation and sheetrock as high as four feet up on the first floor of the house. I suspect that the next volunteer crew will tape and mud and the crew after that will paint. With each volunteer work crew Jose is one step closer to recovering one of his properties….and light is given to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death!
I found the situation in Cedar Rapids to be much like what I experience in New Orleans, except on a much smaller scale. Blocks of homes were unoccupied and boarded up. Piles of mucked debris lay in front of many homes. We even saw one house that had just caved in on its foundation hours before we stumbled upon it! The downtown area is vacant and most businesses evidence no sign of recovery. Certainly the current economic situation exacerbates any recovery efforts. The picture is bleak and sad. As you drive around these areas devastated by flooding your gut is wrenched and your heart aches for people who have suffered great loss. If there is any hope it is that the churches are the ones who are providing relief and light to those affected! That is the same reality that we have heard from people in the Gulf.
I have found that these relief trips are spiritually deep and very rewarding on many levels. On this particular trip, given the current economic situation, I came back home with a few reflections; the “loss” in my pension account doesn’t seem quite so large! I am not getting a salary increase in 2009, but I am very thankful to be employed in my vocation. We are very lucky to live in an area of the country that is relatively unaffected by natural disasters. The spirit of Christians working together and motivated by Jesus to shine light into darkness is a beautiful thing! The challenges caused by natural disasters are monumental but each of us can make a small difference by extending the mercy of God to those in need! I didn’t spend any money in Cedar Rapids, but I did “buy” my first Christmas present this year; a week of my time and a small wooden cross gifted to an appreciative stranger named Jose. “Just as you did it to the least of these who are members of my family…” (Matthew 25:40)
So what hope do I have after a week of volunteer work in Cedar Rapids? Maybe some day I’ll return to that city and see a family renting Jose’s house and like Zechariah, my heavy heart will sing The Benedictus!
Peace, Pastor
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