This is the last weekend of 2024, and as we look at the year to come, there is so much that seems to have been forgotten. The people of Asheville and other parts of Appalachia are still struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. They almost didn’t even get Congress to pass a bill giving them the aid they so desperately need.
The photos from just a week or two ago are still grim, rubble all over the place, a child’s toy here and there, reminding us that this storm took not just buildings but lives, over 100 in this part of North Carolina alone. The air is still full of awful smells, primarily from chemicals. Remember how it smelled in lower Manhattan after 9-11?
More than 700 roads remain closed, major bridges need to be rebuilt, but in these small communities there is still much grief over the loss of life. It’s easy to be caught up in the disaster of today, but as this year is coming to a close, we must not forget not just Asheville but the other areas devastated in September.
Prayer for the Day
Confessing our failures to help others still caught in grief,
We find the tasks to which we are called daunting, O God;
It’s easy to forget people outside our immediate community,
And to leave your demands for others to fill, O Lord.
Forgive us, O God, and erase the habits of our uncaring,
And transform our words into action as you call us to do.
In the name of the Transformer of our lives,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
How do we live with a sense of hope and peace when the mind is trapped in a state of disbelief? When a world lying in solemn stillness carries grim significance?
Darlene O’Dell, American writer living in Asheville
We hope that people will be getting back into their homes. That they’ll get back to their jobs, that they’ll have that sense of normalcy that they had before this.
Leslie Dalton, CEO, East Tennessee Highlands United Way
In you, O Lord, I seek refuge, do not let me be put to shame
In your righteousness, deliver me.
Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me.
You are indeed my rock and my fortress, for your name’s sake, lead me and guide me;
Take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for you are my refuge.
Psalm 31: 1-4