Finding a High Cliff in the Swamp

I was reading over the Daily Office today and I came to this passage from the Psalter: "I waited patiently upon the LORD; he stooped to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay; he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure." (Psalm 40:1-2, NRSV) These two verses of Scripture jumped out to me because are packed with meaning for the citizens of New Orleans these days.

In a post-K New Orleans getting your feet set on a high cliff is the name of the game. I was walking around the neighborhood by St. Paul's with some other volunteers and saw my first newly raised houses since I came back to the city. Folks are jacking their houses up and setting them on pillars in order to avoid flooding should the waters rise again. Other folks haven't gotten to that point yet. They're still stuck down in the mire and the clay, searching desperately for a way out.

One such person is an older woman I met in the Lower 9th Ward yesterday. She told us that she just moved back into her house about one month ago. She needed to get her plumbing fixed and her gas lines inspected before those utilities could be turned back on. Her son recommended a contractor that claimed he was working out of a local church. He assessed the situation and gave her an estimate of $9500. The woman was unsure if this was a fair price (it wasn't), but she was so desperate to get the repairs made that she paid the man what he asked. He, in turn, never finished the job, took the money, and hasn't been heard from since. Now, out almost $10,000, this poor woman's life is looking a lot like the desolate pit that the Psalmist spoke of.

So, how does she get out? Luckily for us, God is willing to kneel down. He gets down and works in and through His creation and creatures. God has taken his followers up in his hands and breathed the breath of the Holy Spirit into their mouths. He has given them the determination and desire to come down and volunteer, to help their brothers and sisters in need. The Spirit has blessed these volunteers with the gifts of faith, hope, and love, and they've come to New Orleans to give these gifts to those in need.

In the case of the woman above, a group from Manhattan has taken her under their care. This evening, after putting in a day of work mucking houses, they're renting a plumbing snake, returning to her house. This woman was a complete stranger to them yesterday, but today they're getting her ready to help her get the water turned back on. Will an act of compassion by these Christians set to rights the wrong done to this woman? No, it will not. However, it is a start. Tonight, in one little house in the Lower 9th, a group with a plumbing snake will offer their hands. Their hands will be reaching out to lift one woman out of the mire and clay of despair to set her, if just for a moment, on a high cliff of hope.