I haven’t read Jill Bolte Taylor’s book, “My Stroke of Insight,” which chronicles her “personal journey” as a result of a massive stroke. The fact that it occurred to a brain surgeon who knew precisely what was happening to her at every stage makes it a fascinating subject. The publicity folks for her publisher talk about the positive things she learned and can teach the rest of us. The NPR announcer referred to her experience as “a stroke of luck.”
Two friends have e-mailed me this week with their accounts of hosting our citizens who had evacuated to their towns as a result of Hurricane Gustav. So many reports from newspapers told of ungrateful evacuees with their constant demands, bellyaching, and even fighting. So, this is welcome news.
Dwight Munn is a senior staff member at West Monroe’s First Baptist Church, one of the great churches in our state. He writes, “We hosted around 70 members of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church for about a week. We also hosted a group of Hispanic brothers and sisters from Great Commission Baptist Church in Marrero. They numbered about 60.”
“It was a phenomenal time of community. Everyone was respectful as well as helpful. We wanted them to participate in the physical aspects because we felt it was better for them to do that than just sit around. They agreed and pitched in every time the need arose.”
“One Hispanic mechanic (nice rhyme) offered his services free of charge to anyone needing car repair at the shelter. It truly was an experience of the bond of love and the unity of peace which God’s children enjoy.”