You can learn a lot about people when they are under stress. We see them at their best – or worst. Hurricane Helene is revealing both.
My family has experienced what it is like to be without power, water and refrigeration, with mud and debris in your home. You feel alone, overwhelmed, and sad. We have also rejoiced when strangers we never met come to help muck out the house, haul out furniture and belongings that must be discarded, do carpentry work and saw tree limbs. Their biggest contribution is to provide comfort.
We can’t thank these heroes enough. But they aren’t looking for thanks. They see this as their responsibility, a calling to help another in times of distress.
These are the people the musical group Alabama sang about in their wonderful song, Angels among us:
I believe there are Angels among us,
sent down to us from somewhere up above.
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live, to teach us how to give.
To guide us with the light of love.
We are blessed by many angels. But times of distress also show the worst side of some.