Mississippi Mud

On July 31 the temperature was about 95 degrees, humidity was high, and a week of volunteering at Camp Coast Care (Bay St. Louis, Mississippi) -- and a wonderful sabbatical--came to an end. It seemed a fitting end, to be among folks whose lives are still in upheaval from a natural disaster. The need for the church to 'keep it real' is never more evident than in the lives of those we encounter where hope is tenuous at best. The ministry of the church is most fully accomplished when we, by touching the lives of those in need -- and through the Grace of God--, turn sorrow into joy. And the sin of needing to be needed is most apparent when those of us who volunteer set parameters on our time that make sure we get what we want out of the volunteering, without regard to the true needs of those we are ostensibly serving through our volunteerism.

A youth group from the Diocese of New Jersey was there at the same time I was. It was wonderful to be there coincident with them. Most arrived with little skill in construction. All left knowing they could hammer, caulk, tile, and de-construct. Their sense of joy had little to do with the specifics of the work, but the knowledge that they were helping someone, or several someones.

What I 'did' in Mississippi doesn't really matter. The fact that the ministry of LESM (Lutheran Episcopal Services in Mississippi) continues to need volunteers to help restore homes, lives, and community remains...and for 5 days my time was used well and to the benefit of those in need. Those who continue to labor in the Mississippi Mud, day after day, need our support. We need to pray for them. We need to send our time, talent and treasure. So many of the grants and financial resources once available are drying up, and the need is still great. It may not be as 'sexy' as it was at first. And the nature of the work ranges from building to feeding to administration.

It is wonderful that our diocese continues to send folks to the Gulf Coast. Camp Coast Care has moved from Long Beach to Bay St. Louis, which makes some of the homes targeted for building assistance as much as an hour (or more) from 'camp.' It is my hope that those who are asked to work on those more distant sites, will not bemoan the travel time, but rather rejoice that they are meeting a need that is established by the LESM folks...and rejoice that they are able to be of service as God needs them...not as they want to be needed.

This is not easy...all of us (including me!) want to have some meaningful way to engage the world. My hope and prayer is that I can learn to find meaning in opportunities the way God provides them. As Nancy Seger said to me at General Convention (where I was "volunteering") -- "we are here to serve...if that's where you need to be, that's where you go." Truer words were never spoken.