Where to Now?

At our last support group meeting, a lady walked up to me and said, "Being forced to move to Utah was God's gift to me. God knows I wasn't getting anywhere in New Orleans." I was made aware that 20 "new residents" arrived in Salt Lake last week with no place to reside or food to eat. They had been told how great the adjustment to Utah had been for most. It is also my understanding that "new residents" have been continually arriving for the past two months.

This is all occurring in the midst of FEMA indicating it will be cutting off its promised support for one year early next year--about six months early. However, we have been telling our "new residents" for the last three months, the only guarantee you have is your ablity to work in your own behalf. We have promoted this message of empowerment from the beginning.

As this reality has steadily set in, practically everyone has responded--some slower than others. I continually remind those displaced of the resiliency I remember on their part, growing up in New Orleans. For many of them, the situation was much more challenging than adjusting to Utah. I share my experience of the people here in Utah as being "good people," with an honest intent to have them accepted. That has been my experience, I cannot, and do not, speak for others.

In spite of this receptivity, the holiday season has brought both sadness and joy. Sadness for how it used to be in New Orleans during the holidays and joy for being spared and relocated with some degree of security. To address this delimma, Reverend Davis and Ernest Timmons have planned a New Orleans Christmas Celebration at Calvary Baptist Church December 23 at 7:30 pm. We are planning this event as a community, with most of the food being contributed by the Support Group. They will also do the cooking.

As stories are told of overcoming challenge or adversity, the group continually transforms. One of our active members told of buying an old truck at a public auction and fixing the exhaust himself in order to pass the Utah auto inspection. These stories are, in my opinion, acts of heroism. Those involved are the real change agents of the group. There are always tears, smiles, and appreciation for each other. We have become a family.

I contend the source of this will to, not only survive but, prevail is spiritual. It has been part of the DNA passed from generation to generation. Just when things seem hopeless, the will to help one's self is always attended by assistance one could never have imagined! (Goethe) This capacity is too often brought out in crisis or tragedy. The challenge is to live this way, more or less, from day to day.

What's the message? The instant we realize (as wisdom) our connectedness to each other, the "act of community" is as natural as breathing. What to do happens without conscious awareness because "doing" is the natural result of a spiritual prompting. For example, those of us with the greatest infirmity often have the greatest gift to contribute to those in apparent perfect health; and excruciating pain! The gift of empathy, compassion, and love.

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