The version of the dismissal used by my parish at the end of Eucharist charges us to “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” To me, this dismissal is a paraphrase of the first great commandment to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind”. Last week a group of us from four churches in our convocation followed that charge in the dismissal. We traveled to Ft. Payne, Alabama to sleep on the floor at St Philip’s Episcopal Church and to assist the surrounding community recover from the physical damage inflicted by the tornadoes of April 28th. We did not know the others from the other parishes well if at all, and some did not know their fellow parishioners well.
We did not know exactly what our duties would be except generally to assist in the clean up from the tornadoes. That storm and its impact on the Alabama countryside, especially the city of Tuscaloosa, had made the national news. I did not remember Ft. Payne being mentioned.
Our assignments came through the DeKalb County’s Roads Supervisor and were varied. We cut downed trees and brush and moved the remains of homes to the side of the road so the FEMA contractors could pick up the debris and take it to a landfill.
On the first day, most of us started out helping clear downed trees from an area behind a destroyed home. The home was pushed off of its foundation, the roof partially destroyed and siding had been ripped off of the home. We placed the limbs in a large pile and the logs from the tree trunks into another pile. When we left in the early afternoon we generally felt that we had assisted another person.
Our main party met up with the few that had been sent to help two sisters clean up around their family’s home place that had been destroyed. Debris had covered the yard, and the sisters and members of our group had moved a significant amount to the road. When an additional twenty plus descended on the site to assist in the clean up, the sisters were amazed. Our large and recombined group cleared the yard of debris including boards, glass, and metal roofing. I felt rewarded as the FEMA contractor working on the road moved his equipment to pick up the debris that we had moved to the roadside. Prior to leaving that site, the sisters had us join them in a circle on the road and join them in prayer and said thanks.
On the second day, we went to a small subdivision in which all homes had been destroyed. Our task was to move the remains of the home, which were in a pile, to the street so they could be picked up later by a FEMA contractor for disposal. We were there as the homeowner did not have insurance coverage to pay for debris removal. We moved; by hand, in a wheelbarrow, on sleds improvised from a carpet and a trampoline and on the tailgate of a pick up; a large pile of debris from the center of the lot to the roadside about 70 feet away. Early in our task, many commented that it would be easier if we had heavy equipment. However, during the deconstruction of the pile to move it, we found a baby spoon, a high school letter jacket and other personal mementos. We passed those mementoes onto Woody, the Roads Supervisor, hopefully to be reunited with the family. On the way out of the subdivision we noted a beautiful house, only a hundred yards from the edge of the subdivision. That home appeared not to be touched by the storm.
Our third day assignment presented us with a very different situation. A home that was intact; with the homeowner living in it. However, there were pines down all over the home site and the homeowner was a 70+ year old who was recovering from a broken back. Our chain saw operators cut the downed pines, and logs and brush were carried to the road. Our work was cut short by a hailstorm. (I cannot imagine how the residents of the area felt as a strong thunderstorm approached.) We came back on Thursday and finished our task there. The situation at this location appeared to be a low priority when we first arrived. Actually, it was very different if not for a large group with individuals who could operate chainsaws; the work would not be done. The tasks were being balanced with the available resources. God was sending us were we could be used.
We asked for a light assignment on Friday, and our request was honored. We went to a home whose yard needed “picking up”. When we arrived all looked in order. In the course of picking up, I noted a barbed wire fence with small limbs entangled in the wire and whose metal fence posts were tilted at a 45° angle. I surmised that the fence caught the branches blown by the wind and then caught the wind which pushed over the barbed wire fence. This is another example of the power of the storm that had hit. The son-in-law to the homeowner stopped by. I found out that the house looked in order as the family and volunteers had previously logged 300 hours at the home. They had removed downed trees, removed the remnants of outbuildings, stabilized the home and performed other clean-up tasks. The home which was off of the foundation was missing a back porch, and most of the roof. The home was not repairable. That situations are not always what they first appear to be was re-emphasized by this location.
Hopefully, we as a group strengthened the Body of Christ. I came away feeling that I had helped a few people. In helping others, we exhibited elements of the second great commandment to love thy neighbor as thyself. As we did that we are on the way to fulfill the first great commandment. We also developed a stronger relationship with others, some of whom we will see regularly, some not so regularly, and some possibly not again. But, at least for that week, we were one with one another, and hopefully were one with Christ.
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