Wade in the Water

We didn't spontaneously decide to attend Glide Memorial Church this morning. But it was the very best place we could have been on this particular day.

I haven't blogged anything about the hurricane victims before now. Partly because we were so overwhelmed with Mark's death and funeral, and partly because the initial reports we were hearing said that the hurricane was really becoming not a big deal and there would be very little damage from it. I don't know where that came from, but obviously it wasn't true. As we heard more and more about the damage, death, and suffering of the people in New Orleans, we've become more and more concerned for the situation. Thank God most of them are evacuated now, and I hope they are in a dry place, one where there is plenty of food and water and where they can clean up.

Hibi, Zac, and I have been to Glide church several times in the last few months, and really loved it. Glide is a church that's in the tradition of the black church, but they let white folks in too. It's probably around half black. It's a wonderfully open, affirming, joyous place to be, and I always feel better when I've gone to Glide.

I've been wishing that Paul could come with us to Glide, but he's otherwise occupied with his priestly duties on Sunday mornings. But we've been planning for a couple of months that when he went on vacation, we'd go to Glide together.

Before we left for church this morning, I said to Paul that I was sure that there would be anger with the powers that be over the slow response to the hurricane victims. I was right....sort of. But what was the overriding attitude of the church service this morning was joy. It was a celebration of life! The first hymn we sang was Wade in the Water:

Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God's gonna trouble the water

While we were singing, there were photos up on the wall of New Orleans....the damage, the devastation, the people desperate for help, the hope. I couldn't sing right away because I was so choked up. It was incredibly moving. The service continued, using water as the theme of most of the songs. It reminded me that while water can be damaging and hurtful, it can also heal. We need water. We cannot live without it.

We are heading out in the morning for a week-long camping trip in northern California, with our statewide homeschool support group. We're also going to head up to Ashland, Oregon for a night, to see Love's Labor's Lost at the Shakespeare Festival there. We expect to have lots of fun! See you when we get back.