Building Hope 3

After church Sunday, some of the guys and I took a ride through the 9th district to see and understand some of the devastation. It was surreal. The worst part is it's two years later...

We saw where the levy was breached... it takes on new meaning when you can actually see how close those houses stand to it. I can't fathom how those people must have panicked when they realized the wall erected to protect them had failed. The impressions floating around in my head are unruly at best: Water lines on buildings. Spray painted X's on houses. Empty businesses. A strip mall with the front walls missing - inventory where it fell off shelves... a row of shopping carts right where they belong. The smell as we walked closer for pictures... A boarded up fire station. A boarded up US Post Office.
The remnants of a boat in a ditch along the road side.
"Katrina you win." spray-painted on a home.

Chain link fencing. Everywhere. Around FEMA trailer parks.
Around parking lots (so no one dumps there). Around boarded up schools and businesses. (Perhaps it's to keep the homeless out of gutted, moldy buildings. I didn't ask.)

The rest of the world has moved on while St. Bernard Parish is still dealing with Katrina's effects. When faced with tragedy, there is a point when it becomes unhealthy to dwell on what has happened. We need to move forward, lest our perspective becomes narrowed through hyper-focusing on the negative. But as we drove around and viewed devastation after devastation after devastation, I could certainly understand how hopelessness and despair could settle here.

Every corner bears a reminder of some sort. After a week of driving to and from the work site, we never got used to what we were seeing.

I made it my mission to look for signs of hope:
A crucifix attached to a telephone pole.
Spray painted on the fronts of houses:
"We will rebuild."
"We will be back."
An American flag hanging from the window of a demolished home.
The people who stopped at the work site to thank us for what we were doing.
The family who came to the clothing drive armed with what they had to donate - then "shopped" for themselves.
Flowers planted around the front steps of a FEMA trailer.
A Dominos Pizza operating from a trailer.
Flowers planted around the base of trees lining Judge Perez Blvd.

I want to come home and convey to everyone what we experienced here. But at the same time, I feel a strong urge to guard it to my heart.... instead of emptying myself of its impact by sharing it, I feel compelled to protect it and allow it to stoke my remembrance and spur me to continued action.
I feel as though I am cheapening their experience by attempting to condense it to mere words. I have the ability to turn to other subjects and clear my head of the sadness when it threatens to overwhelm me. What would I do if there were no escape?

I've heard many comments about the wisdom of these people choosing to stay in the area, most very negative.
My answer is this:
It is not our job to judge or question or make sense their reasons for wanting to stay and re-build.
It isn't about us.
God sent us to serve.
In whatever capacity we are able.
Period.

P.S. I'm still having pictures developed...more to be added. Stay tuned.