By Steven Norris
From 2010 to 2018, our family made our home in Western North Carolina. Though we certainly felt a providential leading that brought us to Griffin, we left a piece of our heart in the mountains. Therefore, you can understand my heartbreak as I looked at the pictures coming out of Asheville and the surrounding communities in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
Amidst such widespread devastation, it is common to ask questions like, “Why did this happen?” or “Where is God in this?” They are questions that have no easy answers and there is not enough space to unpack them here. Instead, I am drawn once again to the advice of Fred Rogers: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”
Likewise, I believe that we will find God amidst those who are helping — using their gifts and abilities to ease the suffering of others. Even though my social media and news feeds are filled with pictures of the destruction, they are also being filled with stories of God showing up in the midst of the rubble. Numerous friends have told stories of neighbors cutting trees off houses and cars, clearing roads, and doing whatever they could to clear a path for help to get where it was needed most.
I saw stories of regular citizens taking their boats to retrieve neighbors trapped in homes and businesses due to flash flooding. I hear about nurses, doctors, and other medical personnel who have not left the hospital since the tragedy began, even in the midst of labor disputes and recent nursing strikes. None of that matters when your neighbor is in crisis and you possess the knowledge and skills to help.
I read a story about an organization called Mountain Mule Packers. They specialize in transporting goods in rugged, difficult-to-reach areas by using caravans of pack mules. They have been working over the past few days to deliver life-saving supplies to those trapped in areas where roads are impassable or completely washed away. It is a reminder of the old saying, “Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something.”
I would encourage all of us to think about what resources we have that could be used to ease the suffering of someone in need as a result of this storm — whether in North Carolina or just down the road in Augusta, Savannah, or Valdosta. We may be able to give financially, gather water and other needed supplies, donate time and labor, or commit to praying fervently for those who are hurting. We all have something that we can do to be the hands and feet of Christ to neighbor — to be a helper.
May we all be led by the saying attributed to John Wesley, the founder of Methodism: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
This Sunday, October 6, we will collect our regular benevolence offering at the end of the service. We are dedicating this month’s offering to hurricane relief work here in Georgia.