A light in the darkness

By Laura Young

Greetings from Texas.  The devastation that Hurricane Ike brought to the Gulf Coast is heartbreaking.  Much of Texas will be in recovery mode for quite a while.  Just viewing the photographs brings about a pain that is hard to describe.  Every hurricane is different, but the pain is a familiar pain.  I grew up only 40 minutes from the Galveston seawall.  Hurricane preparation is a familiar drill.  When you live down here, it’s just something you do.  These days, I live about 120 miles north of Galveston’s beaches.  This part of Texas is more used to providing shelter for those who evacuate.  Ike had other plans.  Friends even farther north than I am took a hit.  We felt Category 2 winds up here.  A 75’ pine tree fell on our house.  It was only one of many trees that fell on homes, some causing loss of life.  Our church tried to provide care for evacuees in a city without power, gasoline, or ice. 

This is day 12, and still thousands of people in the Houston area are without power, stable homes, and reliable communication.  It is anything but “business as usual.”  Today, for the first time, Galveston residents are being allowed to return home to see what remains.  My family was fortunate.  Our home received minimal damage and had power restored on day 8.  That was certainly the longest I had ever lived without electricity.   We were grateful for a cool front that arrived on day 2, but I didn’t do well being cut off from the world for those 8 days.  During that time text messaging via cell phone was the only way to communicate, and it wasn’t a sure thing.  We had a hand held sports radio that provided only local information.  I did fine reading by flashlight, taking cold showers, and eating non-perishable food, but it didn’t take long to confirm that I’m addicted to nightly baseball games, MSNBC, and the internet.  Important events all over the conference had to be cancelled.  All businesses and schools were shut down.  Destruction and debris was everywhere.  Survival and clean up was the only activity – still is in some places.  Each morning when the sun came up we all got back out and continued the effort.  Being ever aware that our challenges were nothing in comparison to those on the coast, we knew better than to complain.   

In the midst of all of this, there were wonderful scenes and stories of neighbors reaching out to neighbors and strangers reaching out to strangers.  In a town that was pitch dark by 8:00 pm there was light everywhere!  Not a day went by when Christ-like behavior didn’t pop up at every turn. 

Around here, people get their electricity from a company called Entergy.  Let me tell you, when those trucks showed up we were pretty excited.  They worked tirelessly, in dangerous conditions, and showed great attention to our safety.  They were living without power too - away from their families and camping in “tent cities” and the end of each day.  As people drove by, some were interrupting their work to say thank you, or to ask when they might expect power.  Even when interrupted, these Entergy employees exhibited very positive attitudes.  More Christ-like behavior.  It was impressive. 

Power and internet were restored to our neighborhood on Saturday afternoon.  That gave us just enough time to write and print out thank you letters to all the people we had been dependent upon over the past 8 days and have our congregation sign each one.  As I looked up the addresses I had trouble finding one for Entergy.  Browsing through their website I couldn’t help but notice the word “inclusion” in their “About Entergy” pull down menu.   

Of course, I had to go check it out.  I discovered their 5-page statement on “Diversity and Inclusion.”  It is filled with words like “integrity,” “people,” and “value.”  Pretty typical.  It also includes phrases such as, “environment that fosters creativity, productivity and mutual respect of all people.”   Then, in a nation where most companies stretch themselves to use the word “tolerance,” Entergy says,

“A cornerstone of Entergy’s culture is respect, respect for every individual regardless of race, gender, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or any other cultural factor.

‘Tolerance’ is insufficient in this organization that values the differences among its nearly 14,000 employees.”

Yep!  More Christ-like behavior.  No wonder their employees were impressive.