Seeing the Floods Firsthand

We've all seen a lot in the last week. Some of it on TV and the internet, and some in person. Here's a sampling of what I and some of my friends and family have witnessed.

Saturday afternoon: up until this point we were annoyed that the weather coverage was pre-empting the Kentucky Derby (as a Louisville native, the Derby is a high-holy day for Jessica) and preventing all but one of our guests from attending our Derby Party. Once we saw these images on our TV, we realized that the rain was no mere annoyance.

You can't see it here, but the lowest point of Dunbar Cave Rd. (very close to our house) was under several feet of water.

Here are several photos Jessica took on Tuesday when she took a brief walk from her office on 8th Avenue in downtown Nashville:

A submerged SUV on 2nd avenue.

A view from the Shelby Street pedestrian bridge of LP Field, where the Tennessee Titans play. The thing that looks like roller coaster track is allegedly a work of art.

Joe's Crab Shack.

On Thursday I went to a house in Hendersonville with my friend, Gavin Richardson, to do some cleanup work.

This woman hadn't thrown anything away in decades. The smells gave new meaning to gross.

One corner of her garage.

Just a few of the literally thousands of people who have some from all over the region and all over the country to help. The three people in the foreground were all from different states!

Please keep praying for our state. There are many areas that were hit very hard and will take a long time to recover. If you're so inclined, you can donate to the Red Cross or UMCOR, and if you live near Nashville and want to volunteer, you can connect with needs at Hands on Nashville.

Middle TN Flooding

OK, the last post was obviously a joke. But there is serious suffering going on in the Nashville area right now. Here are some ways you can help.

You can donate money to the Red Cross, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), or the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. These are all very reputable organizations, and you can be sure every cent of your donation will go to relief.

If you live in the area and can volunteer some time and energy, Hands on Nashville is doing a great job of coordinating volunteers.

If your church group or family can spare an hour or so, you can put together a Cleaning Bucket to help those whose homes have been flooded begin the recovery process. The page contains all the necessary items, and your local United Methodist congregation can help get it to the right place.

If nothing else, please take a moment to pray for all those who have been affected by the floods. If you're not the praying sort, radiate some good thoughts. Those are appreciated, too. We're in for a very long road to recovery here, one that will keep going long after the national media spotlight has moved on.

Who is Pat going to blame?

As the flood waters begin to recede here in the Middle TN area, we are beginning to survey the damage, asses how we did in the response, and what sort of things we can do differently next time so much rain comes in a short amount of time.

For help on this last question, we can always ask our old buddy Pat Robertson. Pat always helps us understand how the victims are to blame in any tragedy, whether it be Haitians after the earthquake, American society after 9/11, or Ariel Sharon after he had a massive stroke.

Who exactly will Pat Robertson blame for angering God so badly that He (remember, Pat's god is an abusive, insecure male deity with a very short fuse) would drown the city of Nashville, a place that is often referred to as "the buckle of the Bible belt".

I posed this question to my Facebook friends earlier today, and they had a couple of ideas. One culprit could be that enclave of theological liberalism, Vanderbilt Divinity School. Did you know they let a Jewish person teach New Testament there? For shame...

Another person suggested that God is angry with the Southern Baptist Convention, headquartered in Nashville, for not allowing missionaries to pray or speak in "angelic tongues".

Still another suggested that the Christian Music industry is to blame, since one of its biggest stars, Jennifer Knapp, recently came out of the closet as a lesbian.

A friend who is also a Methodist pastor suggested that I am to blame. Draw your own conclusions on that one!

What do you think, dear readers? Who will Pat Robertson point his finger of judgment at? Best submission (judged by Jessica and myself) gets an honorable mention on the blog and the respect of your peers.