Last Tuesday October 8, I wrote the following in my weekly blog.
“We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” Ephesians 4:14-15
It was a Tuesday, and the hurricane was coming. As you read this, we Floridians leaned into Hurricane Milton, hunkered down and praying. My phone had just sent a message in capital letters, upgrading the storm in our area from a hurricane watch to a hurricane warning sometime in the next 36 hours.
Those of us who have weathered previous hurricanes, tornadoes, nor-easters, and microbursts remember where we were when, and the aftermath. And so we watched the skies, anxious for tomorrow.
Twenty-four hours later, tomorrow came. Still a half day away from Hurricane Milton, lightning strikes, tornado warnings and flood warnings from three days of relentless rain lit up our phones.
Some of us saw it coming, and some did not. YouTube Video later emerged from A1A showing the tornado coming north then west to Spanish Lakes, where neighborhoods were decimated, lives lost and homes destroyed. Other tornados scattered the area, damaging homes on the mainland.
Though we’d watched the news feed all day, many of us who live in Central Beach didn’t see it coming. One church member was taking a nap on her second floor when she saw the funnel cloud dropping towards her in the skylight. Then it lifted at the last minute to move next door and beyond.
I was standing in my kitchen on the way to the closet floor when it sounded as if a bomb hit the house, the air sucked out of the room. It felt as if the house would implode. For a moment I froze as live oak trees flew horizontally by the windows, then made a run for shelter. Five seconds later it was over.
Central beach blew apart, decimating roofs and yards, crushing cars and garage doors, in a random path of unspeakable destruction. All of us in every neighborhood from the 17th street bridge to the Village Market two miles to the north, emerged from our homes blinking.
When the acting director of FEMA response and recovery outlined preparations for the pending hurricane last week, he issued a further warning. He called misinformation and conspiracy theories about the storm and its recovery “extremely damaging.”
The text from Ephesians issues a similar storm warning that we humans can be blown off course. “We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming”.
Our faith offers us an antidote to whatever storms threaten our well-being. “Speak the truth in love,” as members of one body, united and connected to Christ the head. Christ shelters us through these tumultuous times, with love stronger than death.
It's easy to get caught up in the fear and the drama of these perilous times. Our perceived losses may seem substantive and overwhelming. Yet emerging from our shelters to a landscape rearranged, we trust that by the grace of God, the sun will shine again.
God’s grace, mercy and peace be with you,
Rev. Dr. Anna V. Copeland
Senior Minister, The Community Church of Vero Beach
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