Last month was a very unusual one. With a hurricane passing through our area and knocking out power to over one million people in our state, our facility was without power for nearly a week, so no newsletter went out for October. Many of our church family were without power for over a week. But our situation has paled in comparison to that of the people in Western North Carolina.
A few of us men had the privilege of taking some items to Burnsville and Rutherfordton this past Thursday. We didn’t really see the devastated areas, as where we traveled had mostly been cleared of debris. Once we got to Burnsville, we were on main roads. We did see evidence of very high water levels, however. The two-lane we followed from Landrum to Rutherfordton, passed many rivers and creeks, and mud stains reached ten to fifteen feet high on trees, and there were many areas where it was clear banks had been completely eroded.
But just because we did not see it, didn’t mean it hadn’t happen. I mentioned to one of the girls working to collect the donations that we hadn’t seen much of the devastation. She replied, “Well, just go left or right on any of these back roads and you will see it!” There were some hidden evidences of the devastation as well. Since you can’t go very far with a group of men without one of them stating very emphatically, “I’m hungry,” as soon as we made our deliveries, we began looking for a restaurant, only to find they were all closed! We stopped and asked a worker, who responded, “Yeah, none of them are open because there isn’t any water. There’s a boil water advisory, so McDonalds is open, but that’s about it.”
Wow! There we were wanting something to eat in a place that had been flooded with water, but no restaurant was open because there was no drinkable water! Now there was some irony!
One of the things that did bring a smile to my face was the vast majority of people assisting with the distributions were young! Of course, there were several older folks doing deliveries and distribution, but the vast, vast majority were people in their early twenties and thirties! It was honestly heartwarming to see! As older people, we are so used to complaining about what we see as the lack of work ethic, the selfishness of youth, but when this disaster happened, it has been young people whom I have seen step up and fill the gaps where help was desperately needed.
Just as we missed seeing much of the destruction because it was out of our field of view, so often we make judgements about people, even groups of people because who they truly are is out of our field of view. Just as we failed to realize there would be no restaurants opened because the damage from the storm ran deep into the infrastructure of the towns and cities we passed through, so often we fail to see the deeply entrenched pain of people around us, those whom we pass by, because their outside looks OK.
The people of Western North Carolina are going to have physical needs for months, maybe even years to come. The spiritual need of the people we pass by is eternal. No matter how solid and in place the exterior might look, if their soul is not right with God, they have no foundation. We all know what happens to a building built on a weak or shaky foundation.
May we not be quick to judge those whom we pass by, no matter how good or bad they might appear. There is often something much different under the surface. Let us minister like those young people at the distribution centers. They are giving of themselves willingly, and meeting needs as they arise, without judging who is worthy. Remember: even with us, there is often something much deeper under the surface. If that which is in the depths of our being is the love of Christ, then let it radiate through our actions to all around us.
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