10/26/2024
This year's Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) was a different one. For my friends that aren't familiar - Scripture describes Sukkot as a weeklong feast & celebration of Yehovah (God) dwelling with the Hebrews in tents during their Exodus and 40 years in the wilderness. Additionally it is a reminder that Messiah came and dwelt with us/tabernacled with us, in human form, during his ministry on earth. AND it reminds us of the fact that in the end of the age during the promised second Exodus and our deliverance from the evil of this world - Jehovah, the Creator and God above all gods - will again dwell with us, even if we are in the wilderness. The typical Sukkot celebration in the US is to go camping for a week (living in temporary dwellings), with others celebrating God living with us. It's a lovely time of fellowship, Scripture study and community. This past week was Sukkot on the Jewish Calendar.
Yesterday marked 1 month since Hurricane Helene decimated my state, my mountains - the mountains Jehovah has repeatedly called me to declare His name, authority, battle, and victory over.
These mountains are the land where Father God has placed me, they are home... and they are devastated - along with the people who also have called these mountains home for a short time, or for generations.
I've been working in a distribution center since the day after the hurricane. I normally run a food pantry in our small community center, and so Shabbat morning, after the storm, I went down to the FD and asked what the needs of the community were, and began doing what I could to preserve the frozen and refrigerated foods in our community. We opened the food pantry the next day. In the following week, our food pantry grew from 1 classroom into a distribution center that covers the gymnasium. The generosity of so many has been absolutely amazing!
Thankfully, my home was untouched by Hurricane Helene. But between ours and the neighboring counties, we have many dwelling in tents now, their homes uninhabitable, or worse, gone. They are living, for a long time to come, in temporary dwellings. They are living Sukkot. They are living in tents, in the devastated wilderness that our mountains have become.
Perhaps I could have pitched a tent, to dwell in, this past week - to be in solidarity with my community. Perhaps I could have gone across the mountain to celebrate the feast with other communities. But, this year, I felt Father ask me to continue walking in Him, with Him, serving my community in our community center, and bringing HIS LOVE into every thing I do. I can't say I've succeeded in that, but that's been my goal - please forgive me where I've failed.
Dear community - those living under the peaks of the Roan, Unaka, Green Mtn, the Black Mountains, Grandfather Mountain and others - I feel your pain, your fears, your worries, your heartache. I know there's generations' old hurts, that are triggered and made worse by the events of and the responses to this last month. I know many of us have Scottish heritage, and our families came to live in these mountains due to our family lands being taken during the Highland clearances. I know many of my neighbors have family hurts from what happened during the Civil War when some in this area were Union sympathizers and "Cold Mountain" style "justice" took over these small communities. I know there are spiritual strongholds & abusers here that have done much harm over our immediate lifetimes. I know this disaster, the devastation of our lands, the loss of homes, the distrust of governmental help, the self sufficient strength seen - I know all of it comes with a lot of history, a lot of emotions, a lot of struggle, a lot of pain.
I also know that some of the response both very locally and across our area, has been less than helpful, or even harmful. I know that the actions of a few have caused many to say, "I'll never go back there again".
From the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry that some who were "here to help" did/are doing more harm.
I grieve - with you, for you - I'm so very sorry.
I know we've been given much generosity and from the bottom of my heart, I say thank you to those who have been so incredibly generous and giving of your time, resources and money.
There are a few things I know to be true.
1. We are loved - you, me, each person affected - we are loved with an everlasting, never ending love. We are NOT forsaken.
2. God is dwelling with every displaced man, woman and child in this disaster. He is there, with you, in your tents, in your camper, in your one habitable room, in your car. He is with you - He loves you, and you are not alone. You are living in Sukkot, and He is tabernacling/dwelling with you.
3. The battle against evil - against corruption, greed, control, abuses - that battle is the Lord's. Ours is to pray, to hold up our hands, as Moses did, to call for His Angels to be present and to be victorious - not against people (flesh and blood) but against principalities and powers, dark spiritual forces of evil.
Sometimes God calls us to act, calls us to speak truth, calls us to be strong but kind with people who are acting in evil ways, are abusive, or are absolutely evil. But I have to always remember that the Battle Belongs to Jehovah.
4. Lastly, I know that we are called to love one another. So, let us continue to love our neighbors - in the worst and the best of circumstances. Not just those who are easy to love, but also the most unloveable. For, we are all made in the image of God. Let us look to Him, and in so doing, reflect HIS LIGHT and HIS LOVE to our family, our neighborhood, our larger community.
My prayers are constant for us each,
Misty
