Monday Morning Manna: Things Seen and Not Seen in Hurricane Harvey

Having grown up in Houston, I sat glued to my TV set for hours watching the recent crisis created by record-breaking Hurricane Harvey. There were several things I did not see via all the media reports:
• No protests by radical groups.
• No police abuse, shootings, etc.
• No Confederate statues pulled down.
• When churches opened their doors for evacuees, no one refused to enter because of supposed hypocrites among the membership, or unfriendly people in the congregation.
• When boats arrived for rescue, no one complained about the color of the rescuers’ skin.
• No radical feminists complained about the brave, macho men risking their lives to rescue neighbors.
• No one cared whether bathrooms were male, female, or unisex, and no one checked birth certificates at the doors.
• No one was checking the immigration status of local first responders or of those being rescued.
• No schools, parks or municipal buildings had their names changed.
• The President came and went but the only wall discussed was the wall of water that devastated neighborhoods.
• Sanctuary City only meant some place where there was no high wind or rising water.
What I did see were sports stars and organizations, business places and entertainers donating millions for flood relief and restoration. I saw guys in bass boats and bayou boats maneuvering the flooded streets to pick up stranded strangers. I saw disciplined peace officers and first responders handing stuffed animals to frightened children. I saw churches close their competitive front doors and open their back doors to water soaked and hungry neighbors, regardless of their faith, or lack thereof. In the things they forgot to do, Texans remembered to “not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews 13:16). Appropriate words came from best-selling Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami, “Once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in.”

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.