I just got back from rebuilding a house in New Orleans. And I was struck by a comment by a gentleman who hosted a dinner for all the people who were building houses for St. Bernard Project that week. He has hosted a dinner once a month for the last four years.
He said that what people who helped gave him back was not his home. It was HOPE. His house was under 10 feet of water. Everything was ruined. He had two feet of mud in his living room and his pool was a swamp. He felt violated and despondent. He had no idea how to start and how he would get through it all.
But then people started showing up, strangers started showing generosity and things started to improve. He realized that there were people who cared and he regained hope.
With all the talk about New Orleans, I heard so much about the rebuilding efforts that I thought it must be better by now. But driving through the streets, even I felt like it was hopeless. It's like looking at a hoarder's house and not knowing where to even start cleaning. I think the tragedy of New Orleans is not the destruction, poverty or crime; rather, it is that losing of hope. But for that man, just a few strangers helped give him a sense of hope. And with every 2x4 board we scraped, scrubbed and painted, I was pouring hope into that house for our homeowner named James.
I've had a rough year, but I have never once lost hope for a better future. I hope that the people of New Orleans can individually have that feeling of hope again too.
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