Thursday, September 01, 2005

Valour Amidst Chaos

I've been glued to the television since I first heard those fateful doomsday predictions for New Orleans. The historic jazz city is one of those places that I have most wanted to go for years, and my heart goes out to all of them.

All the anarchy there now. Wow. I don't understand how people can get so far gone from morality to do some of the things that are being said are going on there now. My heart and prayers go out to those people who are stuck in the middle of the bad elements and the suspended rescue attempts because of concern for the rescuers' safety.

And, then, on Headline News, a little passing story-- one that just got lost in all the looting and violence stories. It is the efforts of a young man-- a lanky, tired boy of fourteen-- with an axe. A rescue helicopter came for him on a rooftop, but he refused to leave yet. He pointed to a house submerged to its second story just a few rooftops away. "Ya hear that pounding?" he asked the cameraman. "There are people in there with no chance, but I got their chance right here." He held up the axe. Seems that boy had cut holes in a number of roofs yesterday, freeing people trapped by water and heat in attics with no means of escape. He estimated somewhere between 30 and 60. He was tired and he was thirsty, but he wasn't interested in getting in that helicopter just yet. There were more people who needed his help.

Wow. I'm challenging myself to take that boy's lead for the rest of the week. To put someone else's needs before my own. I don't know if that boy's a Christian or not, but how can you argue that Christ is not shining through him right now? Especially to those faces who have a chance thanks to an axe.

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