A Community of Lovingkindness...

When our house was wallopped by a hurricane THE SECOND TIME, it really got us good. It nailed all our vehicles, flattened our garage (leaving two walls and windows perfectly intact on the ground), and punched through our master bathroom leaving an easy exit from the second floor if you were Spider Man. Tons of people in our state faced similar situations.

But we had something that not everyone has: community. Our insurance agent Bugsy took Pete’s call and gave him great advice - which was to call our friend Steve. Our friend Steve called his friend the tree guy and we were the third person on his list. Word spread and soon the Norton family brought us a car to use, Myra brought us a cooler of water, someone grabbed our dead cellphones and recharged them. Pete’s mom offered Michael and his friend Ryan shelter from no technology so they would not miss whatever sporting event they were currently obsessing over. My brother offered to drive up from Atlanta with his chainsaw, which was sweet and just goes to show you had to be here to really grasp the magnitude of the size of that tree and the scope of the damage. Meals arrived and more help was provided; within a couple of days we were out of shock and on the road to restoration.

I am pretty sure every single human that helped us out had (and has) wildly different political perspectives and even religious convictions. But they showed up, each and every one of them, with their version of a tuna casserole. I am also quite sure I never got around to writing thank you notes. For that, I am sorry.

When I think back over the decades to the people who just keep showing up when I am in need, I find they have one thing in common. They are familiar with suffering. They have known grief.

Maybe, just maybe, if we sit and breathe and ask God to show us the way...maybe the losses and griefs and sufferings and setbacks that we are each experiencing during this unprecedented time in history can be used as fuel to inspire lovingkindness in us.