3 Long Flood Takes

I wanted to write one more reflective piece about the September floods that have devastated the area.  I'll return to my regular blogging schedule next month.  If you're looking for normal quick takes, see Jen or Anne.

-ONE-

Honestly, I feel as though each day I wrote about the flood could have been expanded on so much more.  The flow and perception of time has been altered in such a strange way.  Even after three weeks, it feels like yesterday and months ago simultaneously.  My recollections of the earliest days seem like one never ending day.  But one truth remains solid and certain:  Binghamton has changed.  Some people are living the lives they lived two weeks ago; others have yet to live a day with any degree of normalcy.  Some people talk about the flood as a blip of interesting news while others still struggle to make the difficult decision, "Where do we go from here?"  Will people leave behind everything, and Binghamton all together?  Will the local businesses stick around?  How are communities and the church going to handle the the long-term needs of the people effected by this tragedy?  There are so many questions to ask, and never enough time to answer them all.

-TWO-

The stories that broke my heart the most were those of people who just recovered or haven't finished recovering from the flood in 2006.  No matter how you look at it, this flood was more devastating and widespread than the first.  That begs the question, "How will our local leaders prevent and prepare the next big one?"  It's no longer acceptable for us to believe that the "500-year-flood" is something that will never happen again; to our horror, it could happen again next week.  A friend of mine who is well versed in geology told me that the odds for something like this to happen again is very much within our lifetime.  Nobody thought something like this would happen again, but no matter how much you didn't or don't want to believe that, it happened.  And it could very well happen again.  So when the next flood happens, will we be ready?  This conversation needs to happen at the smallest and largest community levels - both the village hall and the county legislature.  I have little doubt that individuals will forget what happened to them personally.  My greatest fear is that communities, as a whole, will forget, and as a result, do nothing.  And that possibility breaks my heart knowing that it will bring unnecessary damage and grief.  So if and when you are given or initiate the opportunity to serve your community, don't hesitate to get involved in the decisions being made in any community level.  If you won't, who will?

-THREE-

"Adversity does not build character, it reveals it."  That is the lesson I learned when I left high school, and these words remind me very much of the human reaction to this flood.  The amount of generosity in both resource and service has been tremendously inspiring.  Many groups, communities and organizations are still raising funds and donating all sorts of goods and services to those who need it.  Spend five minutes on any local media outlet and you'll find someone raising money to flood victims.  That's awesome.  Families and former strangers are finally working together to restore what was previously destroyed.  These acts of selfless sacrifice can only be described as a small sample of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.  But just as readily, you can hear how an event like this brings up the worst of our sinful nature.  Beyond the looting, and blaming, there has also been an abandonment of those in greatest need.  Those who had little now have nothing.  As some families are reuniting, others are being torn apart under the destruction, pride and grief.  Anger, stress, sense of loss are the ways we express this, and they inevitably tag along with any disaster that occurs.  Although God can and will use this trial to bring people back to Himself, many are being wronged through no fault of their own.  Please pray that every act of wrongdoing is returned with two acts of kindness and restoration in hopes that the wrongs will be forgiven and forgotten.