A Neighborly Sort of Christmas

Trinity Episcopal Church, Mobile, Alabama

As families sat celebrating a wonderful Christmas Day, tornadoes suddenly tore through Mobile, Alabama.  The national news barely gave it a mention, but there are millions of dollars of damage, personal homes destroyed, a hospital, churches and school severely damaged, and ancient oak trees uprooted like weeds.  Mobile is a mess.

A Murphy High School teacher sorts through the rubble of a classroom.

The Christmas miracle?  No serious injuries.

The glimmer of light in the tragedy?  Helpers and comforters everywhere.

On the newscasts, you could immediately see neighbors, strangers and friends walking the tree - jumbled streets with thermoses of hot coffee, chain saws and sandwiches, ready to lend a hand or feed a stomach.

So many people came out to help, they had to be turned away until the streets were clear of dangerous power lines.  Church groups, the Red Cross, and hundreds of individual residents of surrounding areas are planning a massive clean-up and restoration effort throughout the coming weeks.

Bad things happen, but good people prevail.  It's nice to have good neighbors.

Here's what my favorite "neighbor",  Mr. Rogers, had to say about bad things in the news:

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." To this day, especially in times of "disaster," I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world."