Strength In Numbers

One day when I still lived in Wisconsin a tornado ripped through town a few miles north of my home. Afterwards the neighbors gathered outside to talk, share stories and help each other clean up fallen branches and scattered debris.

In 2001, a few months after 9-11, I visited Ground Zero in New York with four women friends, including my oldest daughter, Jeanne. We five stood there huddled together holding hands, overwhelmed with emotion, trying to understand and calm each other’s fears. I don’t think I could have gotten through that experience without those other women.

In 2004 when the edges of three hurricanes swept past my new Florida neighborhood, my neighbors and I gathered to share food during the power outage and plan for the next big wind.

In 2006 I visited the Florida Everglades during a drought. I stood on a walkway a few feet above a river that had all but dried up except for about eighty yards of murky green water. In front of me were 30 or 40 alligators who had gathered together, trying to maintain their normal environment. I guess even ‘gators find comfort and strength in numbers during times of stress.

Every weekend when I attend church with my friend Jack (the head usher) we always sit in the last pew. It gives me a bird’s eye view of the congregation and every week as the people file in, I can actually feel the peace and the strength in numbers. Suddenly any problem in my life feels like it’s under the umbrella of all those around me. Strength in numbers. A beautiful concept.

I’ve learned that sometimes, during times of turmoil or disaster, it’s up to me to help gather people together when times are tough just so we can feel each other’s warmth and be nourished by the strength of numbers.

How To Rebuild

March, especially if you live in the northern half of the United States, can be a dreary month. It’s been two weeks since Valentine’s Day and it’s more than two weeks until St. Patrick’s Day. We need something to celebrate, right? Let’s celebrate the Red Cross.

Founded in 1863 in Geneva Switzerland, the month of March was declared Red Cross Month by presidential proclamation in 1943. Talk about an organization built around the struggles of others. Red Cross members breathe, think, sleep, eat and work through one disaster after another, year after year after year in all parts of the globe. The members of the Red Cross can take the worst disaster and show by their loving organizational skills how to rebuild one hour at a time by offering the victims food, clothing, shelter, medicine and most of all, hope.

The Red Cross international humanitarian movement has organizations in over eighty countries and a membership of well over 100 million. The main purpose is to help victims of war or natural disasters such as floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunami’s and famines. The Red Cross also maintains blood banks and trains people in first aid and water safety.

If you’ve ever lived through a natural disaster or volunteered to help the Red Cross during one, you know how important this organization is. When there’s a need, thousands of Red Cross volunteers rush to that part of the country and often live in primitive conditions themselves while they help feed, house, and care for thousands of people whose lives and homes have been disheveled by disaster. This army of guardian angels can calm the masses, giving victims the strength to rebuild and start their lives over.

Next time a huge struggle falls into your life, think about starting with the basics like the Red Cross does: food, clothing, shelter. Start with those. Then go on to the others: Pray. Listen. Help. Pray like gangbusters. Listen to those who are struggling. Help them rebuild. Surviving a struggle happens one step at a time. Just ask the people in Haiti or Chili.