Heart and Soul.

Rebuilding

“The key to truly rebuilding our central city on a vital and sustainable foundation is people.”

                                  Alan Autry

         The Sunday edition of the Birmingham News was filled with articles about rebuilding.  Always in adversity there is opportunity, and there is no Southern city that needs opportunity more than this one.  Birmingham has been knocked down by its history, by the images of police dogs and fire hoses, of KKK and the ‘good ol’ boy’ network that kept everyone in bondage to an outmoded way of life.  Things have changed but we can't seem to shake the image. We call it the “city of perpetual possibility.”  In the midst of the terrible devastation of April 27^th, was born the promise of a new way of being for a city that is long overdue.  People of all stripes are coming together to plan for rebuilding the areas leveled by the storms in a new, better, greener and more promising way.  It is gratifying to see cooperation instead of division and excitement instead of embarrassment.

         There are so many important spiritual lessons floating about in this moment that it is difficult to choose just one.  While we are still inundated by pictures of destroyed homes and businesses, our hearts are also warmed by the influx of willing hands; people who simply want to help and are unstintingly pouring labor and love into a broken community.  Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arch communities for people with developmental disabilities, wrote, “Love doesn’t mean doing extraordinary or heroic things.  It means knowing how to do ordinary things with tenderness.”  Clearing debris and laying aside that one precious, unbroken item that may have deep meaning for someone, is an ordinary, loving thing that is happening on a moment to moment basis.  Handing a dirty, disheartened person a cup of water and a plate of hot food is a kind, and tender, and simple gift. 

         Whether we are rebuilding a community or an individual life, openheartedness provides the bricks and mortar.  Small, ordinary kindness is the key, and a vision of a better tomorrow is a necessity.  I hope you will hold that vision for us today and we will hold it for you.

                                  Namaste,

                                  Jane