Farmville Enterprise September 19, 2018
September 11, 2018 was an unusual day in eastern North Carolina. Many homeowners at the coast were boarding up windows and sliding glass doors. Evacuations were underway in Carteret, Craven and numerous other counties as well as in beaches like Atlantic, Indian, Pine Knoll Shores and Emerald Isle. At the same time memorial ceremonies in Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, Pennsylvania plus at Ground Zero in New York City were being televised to commemorate the monumental tragedy of 9/11.
“We will never forget” has much more to do with the loss of human life than that of material possessions. It also has to do with unbelievable acts of heroism and the way our country came together in a manner that had not been seen for a long time. Love outweighed hate.
With the threat of Hurricane Florence there are a whole lot of “be safe” verbal exchanges between virtual strangers. People understand that the loss of things is nothing compared to the loss of life. Still, it is not easy to lose one’s home or source of income. At the writing of this column we do not know exactly what this storm will mean for the Carolinas and Virginia. In its aftermath we undoubtedly will witness the kind of compassion and determination that renews our hope in humanity. As good as people can be, God is even better. God alone can calm our anxieties and fears and bring us through the eye of the storm.
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” (Psalm 46:1-7)
“But now, this is what the Lord says, he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.’”(Isaiah 43:1-3)
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