So, it would not be unusual to meet someone from a city almost 600 miles from Rochester on any given Sunday. This past Sunday, a woman came through the line and was pleased to introduce me to the older woman behind her--her mother from Minot, North Dakota. My smile collapsed into concern as I asked if she had suffered loss in the recent Minot flooding. This gracious woman quickly assured me that she was all right and was in Rochester for a visit. She lived on a hill, and her home and possessions would be fine, though she grieved for all the loss that her friends and city were suffering. I was relieved for her, though the people of Minot continued in our prayers for the day.
It would not be unusual for me to meet a woman from a town of 40,000 people 600 miles from here. But two from the same city on the same day? After the next service, a woman wanted to introduce me to her mother. She had come from Minot, and the Bethel member wanted me to have a kind word with her mother since she had lost everything in the flood.
It took just a little while to locate her in the crowd. Clearly she was downcast, but there was a strong resolve about her as well. Her house was filled with water. They had been told they did not need flood insurance, but this was a 1,000 year flood, according to experts. While she was visiting in Rochester with her daughter, she wondered if the move to Rochester might be permanent. With the damage done, she could see her home simply being pushed in by heavy equipment and destroyed.
Two mothers from Minot in the same day. One's home was safe, and the other's was destroyed. In the Bible we read that the rain falls on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). We do not know why it is that some prosper and some suffer cataclysmic loss. We do know that we are to thank God for blessings, and we are to be a blessing to those who are suffering. Government, social service agencies, and the church are all in Minot being the hands and heart of a compassionate people. From the church's perspective, we contend that they are the hands and heart of Christ.
Mothers from Minot--a lesson in real life.
