With all the damage wrought by Hurricane Helene, it is time to set aside political agendas and lift up our siblings across the Southeastern United States who are in need of help. Organizations such as Presbyterian Disaster Assistance provide aid to local communities. Other organizations such as the Red Cross also can help in times of need.

People are without and will be without safe water, electricity, and will be starting the process of cleaning up and rebuilding. How can we all do something to support our fellow Americans. By donating to organizations, we enable them to purchase the supplies in bulk and dollars go farther. They also have the organizational aspects to help get aid to those who need it. This is a time to love our neighbors as ourselves and to reach out and help those who have been devastated by Hurricane Helene.

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My spouse and a friend have taken a bucket list trip and I have been home with our twin elementary kids, our dog, and our friend's dog. I am exhausted. It is tiring to keep up with all the needs of the household and my job and getting everyone where they need to go. I have had help of friends in our circles. People who can take kids to an activity or pick them up. People who have held space for us and allowed me a bit of space because other adults could watch my kids.

Mine is for 10 days, but there are parents who this is the 24/7/365 reality. So how can we show up for solo parents and for their kids? How can we offer space and be the body of Christ together?

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Grief is a human experience. To love deeply and to have that love change or disappear means we will feel that loss deeply too. It has been a year since my dad died. It has been 3 years since my mom. We all have loved ones die. But grief isn't just about the death of loved ones. Grief comes from job changes and other relationship changes. And a variety of experiences can bring up that which we grieve. Be gentle with yourself and know that your body remembers sometimes better than any other part of your body or soul.

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Chaos swirls all around us. Another school shooting and ongoing wars. We have chaos in our personal lives as well. For me it is coming up on the one year anniversary of the death of my father. Chaos is part of our everyday life. The story of Noah and the flood is a story of chaos as God uncreates the world and begins again. We have tamed the story with our floating zoo images and it is time to reclaim it as a story of the chaos as well as a story of God's steadfast love for us made in a promise to all of creation never to destroy the earth by flood.

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Picher, Oklahoma. Treece, Kansas. It is likely you have never heard of these towns, yet both Picher and Treece along with others in the NE part of Oklahoma and the SE part of Kansas no longer exist, except in ruins. These ghost towns have been deserted because they are uninhabitable. Mining companies pulled the lead and zinc out and left behind a toxic dump. Flint, Michigan a decade after the water crisis started is still trying to fix the damage done by old pipes and years of pollution. Creation is ours to care for, not to dominate. We must care for the world around us.

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In a world split between "us" and "them" how can we work to be us? We have my football team vs your football team; Coke vs Pepsi; political parties; and any number of divisions. In Matthew 25 we have the sheep and the goats. What would happen if we adopted an attitude of everyone were sheep? Everyone fed the hungry, clothed the naked, cared for the sick, etc. What if we were all "us"?

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In Ephesians 4: 11-16, Paul talks about equipping the saints for ministry and how we are to mature in faith as to not be blown to and fro by the winds of doctrine or through deceitful human actions. I think about this in the midst of the political season. How can we take hold of what we belief and not allow the tearing down of political ads to change us. How do we speak the truth in love with people we disagree with and still hold onto building up the body of Christ? A worthwhile challenge over the next 3 months as we head into the teeth of a political season.

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We are built to be in community. Amazing things can happen when we gather together. I talked about this with my congregation this morning, but I was reminded of the importance of gathering again at an event for a family gathering tonight. We saw friends we have not hung out with in a long while, and it was good to be with them again. A chance to share a meal with friends and to be together is refreshing for the soul. So when do you gather with others? What do you do? Take a look this week and when and how you gather.

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