On the Road Again

On the road again; I just can't wait to get on the road again... That's where I find myself this morning as I awake in Batesville, Mississippi. I'm heading to Beaumont, Texas, along with 6 other folks from Central Christian. We heading south to put roofs on houses in the Beaumont area as a part of hurricane recovery efforts. We should arrive there later today and then we'll begin work tomorrow morning.

As part of my preparations for the trip, I pulled out the Christian Century from October 4, 2005, that carries the cover title "Ministry through the storm" along with a photograph of the devastated building of First Baptist Church in Gulfport, Mississippi. I read through the essays, sermons, and reflections again to be reminded where my heart and mind was almost 12 months ago, to reflect on the changes that have occurred since then, and generally to prepare myself psychologically for what we will see or not see as we move further south. I also brought along the June 27, 2006, issue of the Christian Century that carries the cover title, "Ministry after Katrina." As this recent issue points out there is still much work to do. Some of that work is putting shingles on houses. But much more of that work includes the yet-to-happen conversations on poverty and race. Why is it that this other part of the work remains yet undone? It is certainly hard work, maybe harder than shingling houses during the first week of August in Texas and Louisiana. Maybe it is too hard for us to travel down that road...

...but maybe at some point we'll be singing as we head down a path that addresses those issues. I just can't wait to get on the road again...