The Blessings of Alabama
During the week of July 24, 2011, Sharon Gray, SCN and Colleen Ambrose traveled to mid and northern Alabama on behalf of Nazareth Retreat Center. Pastor Deborah Halter of the ELCA Disaster Relief Program had invited them down to Alabama to be present to the victims of the tornado disasters last April.
This “ministry of presence” was intended to be a listening/healing presence to not only the actual victims but primarily to the pastors and caregivers who have been walking with their people over these past three months.
This experience was very moving as individuals told their stories of where they were when the tornado hit, how they had survived and their gratitude for just being alive. As the pastors, mayors and other caregivers spoke of those early days it was clear that they sensed a strong community, but one in great need. They spoke of helping one another across religious, political and geographical lines. Food from freezers no longer working was salvaged by having big barbecues in the streets where all were fed and housing was established through neighbors sharing, FEMA trailers and whatever else could be found.
Yet this is three months later and the trauma of the event is now settling in. Life has changed.
As the pastors and mayors told of their struggles to continue to feed the hungry, reestablish basic services, the strain in their eyes was evident. The news cameras are now gone but the struggle isn’t. They said it helped to know that someone still wanted to hear their stories, someone was willing to come down and pray with them and attend to them. Time and again these leaders would speak of their people but when asked about themselves silence and tears held back so fiercely was the response.
And the children….ever resilient but nonetheless fearful.“Camp Noah”, a day camp for children of disasters, run by the ELCA Church provided a process for the children to tell their stories in song and art. The trauma of this time was evident yet always with the promise of better times ahead. Here again the team leaders and pastors took time to share with Sharon and Colleen their stories, their needs, their gratitude.
What a blessing it was to simply lend a caring heart and a listening ear to these courageous people of Alabama. Spiritual Direction comes in many forms. This time for Colleen and Sharon this sacred ground of spiritual companioning was found in the tornado torn lands and hearts of the people of Huntsville and Cullman, Harvest and Birmingham. Yes the material needs are there and some of that was attended to during this time by Nazareth Retreat Center staff, but equally important the power of “telling one’s story” as a powerful healing tool for all of us was lived out in very real life terms.
We are truly all one. One in our joys, one in our sorrows, one in our longings and one in our gratitude for one another, for life.
