A great Texas songwriter, Guy Clark writes in his song Stuff That Works, "stuff that works, stuff that holds up, the kind of stuff you don't hang on the wall, stuff that's real, stuff you feel, the kind of stuff you reach for when you fall". In the wake of the earthquakes, tornadoes and flooding in parts of the country and the world I am drawn to think about people's stuff, the important stuff that is lost or found when nature hits in extreme fashion. We buy stuff we think is important and stress over buying just the right thing and stuff we think we need to have and need to build and in an instant it is all blown away or taken away from rising water. What stuff other than each other do we usually look for first after disaster strikes but photographs or some precious memento that reminds of us someone or some place.
What do we have really when all the material stuff is destroyed, what do we cling to in that moment of despair? What is the important stuff, the good stuff after you survive and your neighbor, baby or spouse does not? Will Hope Spring Eternal? What is it about us that makes us want to go on and somehow start over?
My heart goes out to those who happen to be in the way of nature's course at any given moment, may they possess the courage to "get it up again, Amen"
