September 21 '02
Volume 329
Blitz Build
Volunteers Excel
The German armies of
World War II employed a military strategy that came to be known
as "blitzkrieg." In English, "blitzkrieg" means lightning-war. As I understand
the WWII usage, it meant to deal a swift and devastating blow to the enemy,
or to attack with the speed of lightning. In more recent years, the word
"blitz" has become strongly associated with football, where it describes
the rush of defenders into the backfield of the offense with the goal of
"sacking" the quarterback or trapping a running back behind the line of
scrimmage.
Habitat for Humanity, the organization that is dedicated to helping qualified
individuals acquire decent and affordable housing, has also found a use for
the word, blitz. The Pontotoc County Affiliate of Habitat for Humanity
International adopted the phrase Blitz Build to signify the rapid construction
of a house and just last week dedicated two new homes that were erected in
a single week.
Almost as remarkable as the Blitz Build itself and perhaps more so is the
amount of planning and site preparation on the part of Brother Joe Steen.
Brother Joe is sponsored by the Glenmary organization of the Catholic Church.
His mission is to minister to the poor and has, himself, taken a vow of poverty.
Brother Joe oversaw the procurement all the building materials and stored
them in trailers near the building sites. He organized the materials in the
order in which they would be needed from the rear of the truck to the front.
That alone was a Herculean chore, but he also used his skills, along with
a few other local Habitat volunteers, to lay the foundations, concrete slabs,
and rough out all the plumbing prior to the arrival of work crews to erect
the structures.
Both blitz houses are located in a small subdivision with access streets
off both College Street and Bolton Street in Pontotoc. All lots in the
subdivision, created from land originally donated to Habitat For Humanity
by Colonel and Mrs. W.W. Holmes, are now filled. The neighborhood consists
of both Black and White homeowners.
Habitat For Humanity is a Christian organization but is non-denominational
and seeks the support of all churches in the community. This past week found
Apostolics, Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, and Presbyterians working
harmoniously for a common cause. Volunteers came from seven states and eleven
different cities within Mississippi to help two families realize their dreams.
It was about this time a year ago, that
RRN published
a similar article and noted the contributions made by various members of
the Apostolic Christian Churches of Ohio and Illinois and particularly that
of Ron Hodel their crew leader. Once again, Ron and several of his team returned
to Pontotoc to help more needy families.
I met several of Ron's crew last year and enjoyed getting reacquainted with
them again this year. Names I recall are Bob, Don, Ray, and Chuck, and these
were among those Barbara and I had the privilege of having in our home on
July 4th 2001. Don remembered Barbara's gumbo, and when he heard
we would be feeding them on their last night in Pontotoc, he requested gumbo
be included on the menu. Ron was quite taken with the homemade ice cream
we'd had that same holiday evening and mentioned he'd enjoy some more if
it were not too much trouble. One would have to have a pretty hard heart
not to do everything possible to accommodate such simple requests on the
part of individuals who had traveled hundreds of miles and worked long, hot
days to help others.
Work on the two homes began simultaneously following a devotional period
at 8:00 a.m., Saturday, September 7th with roughly sixty volunteers
on hand. The number grew before the day was over as others arrived. I was
on hand, not as a builder, but as an errand boy to help my wife at the
hospitality tent. She had earlier secured my permission to borrow the two
canopies we used for our fish fry last July and volunteers had setup one
of the canopies on Friday. I helped a couple of others with the second canopy
Saturday morning, but mostly I contributed by helping my wife and helping
those who served lunch to the volunteers at the nearby Second Baptist Church.
Seeing persons such as Ministers, School Administrators, and Mayors working
outside their respective "element" was inspiring. By mid-day I was pretty
spent and had not lifted a hammer. Pontotoc City Schools' Superintendent
Dr. Susan Purser along with her husband Geoffrey put in a hard day's work,
framing, decking, shingling, and caulking. Former Methodist minister, Ken
Corley and his wife Glenda seemed indefatigable. Mayor Bill Rutledge missed
the opening day of the Blitz Build, having promised to take his grandchildren
to the Ole Miss football game in Oxford, but he returned later the following
week to work tirelessly alongside others. He and Bill Jackson would complete
the installation of some late arriving appliances the night prior to the
houses being dedicated on Saturday morning, September 14th.
My wife spent almost the entire week of the Blitz Build, onsite. The canopies
offered a nice shade, but still with temperatures in the nineties each day,
I was surprised by her ability to tolerate the heat. I had built up some
tolerance for the heat in preparing for the July cookout, but lost it all
during the month of August as outside lawn care was minimal due to dry
conditions.
I was unable to render much assistance as a volunteer worker for the Blitz
Build due to my workweek. Additionally, I contracted a head cold that
incapacitated me for several days. I had also enlisted Lee Gordon of West
Point to perform his fish cooking magic and was prepared to assist him until
the head cold hit me. Fortunately, my son, Jason, and friend, Bobby Davis,
supplied the need I hoped to fill, while I helped with the serving of the
food, as I did not consider myself contagious by Friday night.
We fed twenty-eight people some "awfully fine" fried catfish fillets,
hushpuppies, coleslaw, French fries, and of course Barbara's gumbo. Desserts
included two choices of freezer ice cream, a fresh strawberry cake that Sarah
made, and a delicious pound cake provided by Wanda Davis.
Lee brought enough fish to serve thirty-five to forty people, but leftovers
were scarce and I did not eat anything, electing only to sample the ice cream.
I remember Lee had commented we had sixty fillets when we were cooking, but
only nine fish fillets were left on the table after everyone had eaten and
a couple of folks made off with them in the form of carryout plates for friends
and family.
I have attended several new home dedication services since Barbara became
the director of the local Habitat Affiliate, but the one last Saturday was
perhaps the most meaningful one for me. Watching the houses go up so quickly
and orderly by volunteers working harmoniously in both labor and in spirit
was a gratifying experience. Seeing the expressions of appreciation and joy
on the faces of the new homeowners was heartwarming.
The dedication ceremony followed a format similar to the others I have attended,
but I think the use of the crew leaders in presenting the new owners with
keys to their respective homes added a beautiful touch. Knowing how much
both Ron Hodel of Normal, IL, and Jeff Pruett of Olive Branch, MS, had given
of themselves in supervising the construction allowed me to appreciate their
comments all the more. Jeff even composed a dedicatory poem and Ron eloquently
explained why he and his crew do this sort of work.
"Everyone asks us the same question 'why do we do it?'" Ron stated. "We do
it because we have Christ in our heart."
I had pondered possible answers to the same question for several days prior
to hearing Ron's answer. I imagined each individual had a different reason
to offer. Perhaps some volunteers found the physical activity a welcome change
from a sedentary job or a respite from a lonely retirement regime. I even
imagined some might have looked forward to a day or two away from the honey-do
lists at home. Some individuals are just plain charitable by nature and enjoy
doing good deeds. I considered several good reasons one might volunteer to
help a Habitat homeowner, but I ultimately came to the same conclusion as
Ron. Christ…Jesus, who died that we might live, dwells in the hearts
of all Christians, and by His selfless example we ought to pattern our lives.
Jesus’ half brother, James, has a book in the New Testament of the Bible
named after him. James encouraged Christians to demonstrate their religious
faith by performing good deeds. I’ve mentioned only a few of the many
individuals who contributed to the success of the Blitz Build effort, but
it may be rightly said of all that their work was but a physical manifestation
of their faith.
September
Eleventh Over Done
Nine eleven, as we now hear it called, was the day in 2001 that terrorists
flew hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but
the attempt to smash into the Capitol
was thwarted by passengers of the airliner that crashed in Pennsylvania.
Linguists claim nine eleven is a new phrase in our vocabulary, but some of
us heard it used in a dumb joke several years ago. It seems someone asked
a dim-witted individual to dial nine eleven for an emergency (normally one
would have spoken nine, one, one). Afterwards the dimwitted one was asked
why he had not done as directed.
He responded, "I couldn’t find the eleven on the phone."
On the anniversary of the second day to "live in infamy," there was more
in the media than there should have been. Usually, the media folks allow
a few years of healing to take place before they plaster our magazines,
newspapers, and TV screens with old footage, interviews, and perspectives
on unpleasantries long past.
Nine eleven is like an open sore in that if one keeps picking at it, it will
never heal. The events of nine eleven are not likely to be forgotten in this
decade, and if our media friends keep the wound open, it won't heal by 2025,
which would be a more appropriate time to refresh our memories than a mere
year after the events.
I read only a couple of opinions on nine eleven, among the many that were
published, that expressed my sentiments. Both writers emphasized that the
best way to deal with the tragedy was to live our lives as normally as possible.
We've grieved our nation's loss, but it's time to set aside the grief and
be about the business of living. Yet, with all the media attention and memorial
services, one could scarcely set aside grief.
I purposed not to attend any of the special services of remembrance held
in Pontotoc, and I also purposed to watch none of the nationally publicized
events on television, either. My head cold was at its worst on September
11, preventing me from going to work, though I managed to check email and
voice mail messages. In the rare moments I felt like watching TV, I scanned
dozens of channels and found most of them were broadcasting a memorial event.
I’m not suggesting there should have been no services of remembrance,
but surely there could have been a lot fewer. Unfortunately, we live in a
time where both the media and the public seem to feed on tragedies. I don’t
know what makes the majority of us that way; I just observe it. I’ve
not researched it, but I imagine our nation did not memorialize December
7, 1941, to such an extent on the first anniversary of the attack on Pearl
Harbor as we saw with nine eleven.
In the aftermath of nine eleven, Congress voted an endowment of something
on the order of two hundred fifty thousand dollars to families of the victims
of the attacks. Now, a hefty number of these folks claim the amount is not
enough. Perhaps not, but it sounds like a reasonable figure to me. I also
imagine we’ve not heard the last of this.
Sara Sue, a.k.a. Sarah, celebrated her birthday much as usual on September
11th. She said folks could be sad over the events of the prior
year if they wanted to but she was choosing to celebrate her birthday. Hooray
for her. However, as my birthday is made less cheerful because folks still
mourn the day Elvis died, so too will it be for Sarah, with folks mourning
the loss of life and devastation of nine eleven. Yet, we’ll keep on
keeping on with the business of living, hoping the nation will one day catch
up with us.
Bodock Beau
Mulch 'Musement
Lamar Bearden sent this our way after reading the "Mulch Man" article of
a few weeks ago.
Winterize your lawn," the big sign outside the garden store commanded. I've
fed it, watered it, mowed it, raked it and watched a lot of it die anyway.
Now I'm supposed to winterize it? I hope it's too late. Grass lawns have
to be the stupidest thing we've come up with outside of thong swimsuits!
We constantly battle dandelions, Queen Anne's lace, thistle, violets, chicory
and clover that thrive naturally, so we can grow grass that must be nursed
through an annual four-step chemical dependency. Imagine the conversation
the Creator might have with St. Francis about this:
"Frank you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going
on down there in the Midwest? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle
and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan.
Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with
abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracted butterflies,
honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors
by now. But all I see are these green rectangles."
"It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started
calling your flowers 'weeds' and went to great extent to kill them and replace
them with grass."
"Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't
attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It's temperamental
with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing
there?"
"Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green.
They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant
that crops up in the lawn."
"The spring rains and cool weather probably make grass grow really fast.
That must make the Suburbanites happy." "Apparently not, Lord. As soon as
it grows a little, they cut it - sometimes twice a week."
"They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?"
"Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags."
"They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?"
"No, sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away."
"Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And
when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?"
"Yes, sir."
"These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the
rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a
lot of work."
"You aren't going believe this Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast,
they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to
mow it and pay to get rid of it."
"What nonsense! At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke
of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to
provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground
and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees
and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil.
It's a natural circle of life."
"You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As
soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and have them hauled
away."
"No! What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and
keep the soil moist and loose?"
"After throwing away your leaves, they go out and buy something they call
mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves."
"And where do they get this mulch?"
"They cut down trees and grind them up."
"Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore. Saint Catherine, you're
in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?"
"Dumb and Dumber, Lord. It's a real stupid movie about..."
"Never mind I think I just heard the whole story."
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