EXPERIENCING ISAAC

Isaac (Tropical Storm?  Hurricane?  it doesn't really matter that much) is upon us, with bands of wind/rain lashing us.

I have no doubt we'll be fine in the long term (and as Charles Williams once wrote, "All luck is finally good luck").  Meanwhile, we 'hunker down' and ride it out.

Having lived in Alabama since 1974, this is of course not my first hurricane.  I've lived through some of the big ones:  Frederick, Ivan, Opal, Katrina... (but why do I feel like Fred Sanford when I say that?!)--but always in Montgomery or Troy:  this is the first one I've been through while in Mobile.  "Preparedness" takes on a whole new meaning here, whether or not all the precautions turn out to have been necessary.

We sandback and tape doors; anthing "moveable" (patio furniture, for example) is stowed away; drinking water and ice and non-perishable foods are stock-piled; batteries are bought; we consider whether we should have bought generators; and no doubt wine will be drunk!  Will we be OK?  Yes...

Just a couple of nights ago we had a huge fiesta to celebrate the 20+ years' relationship we've had with our sister-parish of San Francisco de Asis in Temascalapa, Mexico.  And this is really the core of "church," after all:  mutual membership in the Body of Christ.  It's what remains if the church building is washed away.  And it's what's fundamental to the Faith.

For your listening pleasure, I am adding an excerpt from Benjamin Britten's one-act opera, Noye's Fludde, based on a mediaeval English mystery play.  Noye and his family and the animals, in the Ark, sing (along with the audience) the "Navy Hymn," Eternal Father, Strong To Save.  These days we sing an altered version for the other military branches, but I far prefer the original.  The excerpt is vv 2-3 of the hymn.

As a personal footnote, I had the privilege of singing the title role in a production in Montgomery in 1983 (which, I guess, makes me as old as Noah!)...