The Narrow Gate: Day 156 - I Talked to an Angel Today

The Narrow Gate

Welcome to the continuation of my blog, post-seminary. Ministry and evangelism have brought me back home to Chattanooga. I welcome your company on my journey.

The original blog, Down In Mississippi, shared stories from 2008 and 2009 of the hope and determination of people in the face of disaster wrought by the hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005, of work done primarily by volunteers from churches across America and with financial support of many aid agencies and private donations and the Church. My Mississippi posts really ended with the post of August 16, 2009. Much work, especially for the neediest, remained undone after the denominational church pulled out. Such is the nature of institutions. The world still needs your hands for a hand up. I commend to you my seven stories, Down in Mississippi I -VII, at the bottom of this page and the blog posts. They describe an experience of grace.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Day 156 - I Talked to an Angel Today

I write the September 2 blog today, September 3. Internet connection and the pressures of recovery delay my writing.

We got word Monday night that we were to head back to Gulfport at 8AM. Tuesday. I was ready to go and couldn't get to sleep until about 2AM. I set my alarm for 4:45AM so I could be sure everything was taken down and packed to be ready for that early departure.

I went into the building to get my breakfast routine of oatmeal and toast (I have been sleeping in my RV). Kevin was up and he too had stayed awake most of the night anxious about the worry of today.

I shared today with my new friend. She is a cute little pistol, maybe a touch hyperactive but mostly just an exuberant, carefree young girl who turned five today. She has brown curly hair, is friendly and trusting, and a real charmer. She is a little unsettled by this chaos but not enough to get her down.

I went back out and finished setting up the trailer. When I came back into the building I saw her. Her mother was holding her and the little girl had wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. She had a smile on her face, today, September 2, is her birthday.

We shared our birthday stories before we left. She told me how old (young) she was and I told her how young (old) I was. Her name is Angel, she is Kevin's niece. She was ready for her birthday, but we didn't have much of a party because we had to leave in an hour to return to Gulfport.

The three hour trip to Gulfport was harrowing. We ran into a tornado warning around Laurel. The rain was extremely heavy and the sky was darkening very rapidly. We conferenced by cell phone and decided we were ahead of the worst of the weather. We agreed it was more expedient and safer to put more distance between us and Laurel rather than stopping.

We finally got in about 11:30AM. Although I was exhausted from the last several days, we worked until about 6PM to get our Village cleaned up.

The next day, Wednesday, I went over to Pearlington to see exactly what we are facing to recover. It is pretty bad, all our pods floated out into the swamp; however all but two or three can be retrieved relatively undamaged. The kitchen took about eight or ten inches of water and smells foul. The plywood underlay of the floor is buckling.

At the end of the day, Jeremy and I drove back to Gulfport on the scenic beach route, US90, looking at the yachts and boats that washed up against the seawall beside the road. There is a lot of debris and visible damage but nothing like the situation after Katrina. We drove into the Gulfport village about 5:45PM. I could smell the barbeque. Dinner is at six.

After dinner, they asked me to take Angel into the dining tent. I took her hand and we walked back and sat down at the table. In a few minutes in came a parade of two cakes, one with five candles and the other with, well more than five candles. Angel managed to blow out hers and I managed mine while the group sang "Happy Birthday."

Friends are a blessing, and when one is an angel, it is more than deserved.

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Gates

The gate pervades the Good News. Peter entered the temple gate after the Jesus’ arrest to deny him. Poor Lazarus lay at the rich man's gate, longing for the crumb's from the table, while dogs licked his sores. The blind, lame and paralyzed lay at the Sheep Gate at the Jerusalem temple waiting at the pool with five porticoes for healing water. Jesus warned of the easy road and wide gate to material ease and spiritual destruction and calls us to the hard road and narrow gate to the waters of life.

necessary disclaimer

This blog is created solely to communicate to my brothers and sisters how one person sees adversity bringing out the greater character of humanity. It's early part relating connection to the volunteer relief effort in Mississippi after Katrina and later work with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Program and the Presbyterian Church(USA) is solely through my participation in them; this blog does not carry any sponsorship from these fine organizations or purport to speak for them. All original content is that of the writer who holds the copyright to all original writings and art or other works (See Creative Commons License above). Every effort is made to identify content from other sources which have been obtained from open internet sources. It's more recent content contains sermons and lessons used in preaching and teaching. The url to scripture are obtained via http://bible.oremus.org unless otherwise indicated.

Texts quoted from oremus bible viewer are from "New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved." and "New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved."