The Forecast Calls for Helpers

“’Always look for the helpers,’ she’d tell me. ‘There’s always someone who is trying to help.’ I did, and I came to see that the world is full of doctors and nurses, police and firemen, volunteers, neighbors and friends who are ready to jump in to help when things go wrong.” – Fred Rogers

Meteorologists, our modern-day oracles, use complicated forecast models based on weather satellites, weather balloons, and other systems to try and predict and prepare for what can only be called chaos.

Even still, with all the equipment and history and expertise, it’s difficult to forecast something like Hurricane Harvey, the unrelenting force of nature that has already taken 30 lives and destroyed countless homes, schools, and businesses.

The displaced number is now in the thousands and the estimated damage is $40-50 billion.

All this, in a matter of days, as Harvey went from being a tropical wave (on August 13th) to a tropical depression (on August 23rd) to a tropical storm (on August 24th) and finally a hurricane later that day itself.

How can we feel safe in a world like this? A world that can host and allow so much undeserved suffering and chaos with such little warning? It’s a staggering and ugly thought that can be overwhelming – it’s one that I have occasionally when I see the aftermath of disasters like Harvey.

But there’s more to see in the aftermath.

There’s a quote by Fred Rodgers (of Mister Rodgers’ Neighborhood) that does a great job explaining what exactly you should look for after these disasters – what you can look for to reaffirm your faith and hope in a world mired in chaos. The quote recalls a conversation he had with his mother when he was a child.

“’Always look for the helpers,’ she’d tell me. ‘There’s always someone who is trying to help.’ I did, and I came to see that the world is full of doctors and nurses, police and firemen, volunteers, neighbors and friends who are ready to jump in to help when things go wrong.”

The capacity and willingness for kindness and compassion are things that we can clearly forecast, we’ve seen time and again, be it manmade or by mother nature. With Harvey, we’re seeing it real-time.

If you want to be a helper, you can do it in many ways. One immediate way is to donate to relief efforts:

https://ghcf.org/hurricane-relief/   Greater Houston Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity

http://www.houstonfoodbank.org/  a Houston-area food rescue organization

http://www.foodbankcc.com/ The Food Bank of Corpus Christi

https://southtexasblood.org/harvey blood donation

 

 


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