One of my favorite Rich Mullins songs has the line, "I am ready for the storm." I have witnessed strong storms.Thunders Storms, Snow Storms, and two Typhoons. I have seen one tornado, but it was a safe distance away. I endured a "straight line wind" storm while living in Indiana. What is striking is the speed at which the vast destruction comes. A large building is reduced to rumble in seconds.
What can you do in the aftermath of a devastating loss. Almost everything is gone in an instant! Something of great importance was there, then it wasn't there. Its all gone. That is, most of it is gone. There is much that remains untouched by the power of loss. It is profoundly tragic that not everyone can say, "We are all still alive." But for those who can, it is the ultimate assessment of what is essential and what is tangential. We are the most things in our lives. You can replace it but not her.
When you lose a lot, it is wise to assign a value to what is left. Ask yourself, "Is that which remains more than what is gone?" If you answer that question negatively, then despair must follow. If positively, then there is hope for rebuilding or reforming.
One of my most life altering moments happened when I was about ten years old. Much later I learned it was called "redevelopment." I thought a bomb hit the neighborhood just a few blocks from where I lived. What was once a place filled with children playing in the yards and alley ways was now utterly gone. I sat there on my bike and stared in every direction. The houses were all gone - it seemed like overnight they were flattened and the debris carried off. Some middle class politician called these homes "inadequate, unsightly, unsafe, unhealthy." My friends called them "home." Now that neighborhood is full of warehouses, office buildings, high rental apartments with a view of the Ohio River, restaurants and a casino.
Change is coming. Are you ready?
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