jesus wept

jesus wept

i went down to new orleans a week ago with a group from intervarsity at uri. we met up with over 100 volunteers in saint bernard's parish at a place called "city of hope barracks". we spent a week there. on our free time we bonded, we played chess, speed scrabble, and other games.

free time... in new orleans? shouldn't you be working?

that was my thought too. i figured at the end of the day i would be run ragged by all the good work we'd do. considering how after 2.5 years, new orleans hasn't made much improvement in the less economically motivated areas, there should have been heaps of work to do. and there was. but we couldn't do it. it's extremely unorganized down there... when they get volunteers, they have trouble placing them somewhere. there's not exactly a system in place for effective volunteer action.

but jesus wept.

every night we had community time. a teaching was given in large group. we went to discuss it in somewhat smaller groups afterwards.

lazarus was sick.
jesus was in another town.
jesus heard news about lazarus.
jesus stayed where he was.
finally, jesus went to lazarus.
martha and mary were upset when he arrived.
he could have healed lazarus.
lazarus didn't have to die.
had he been there, he could have done something.
he had all the power to do it.
when jesus saw mary weeping,
and the jews who had come along with her also weeping,
he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

jesus wept.

then jesus raised lazarus from the dead.

something important i took away from the trip is that doing something, and fixing the physical problems aren't always the best way to address the actual need. new orleans needs fixing up, that's for certain... but even more, the people there needs someone to partner with them in their suffering. they need someone who is deeply moved by their story. they need someone who feels helpless and immobile alongside them. they need people to listen to their stories. they need to be remembered.

the first step to rebuilding new orleans isn't necessarily fixing up houses. there are far more broken people than broken houses.