What is really Priceless?

What Would You Save?  

I go back to my pictures of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and still cannot put my head around the devastation in the ninth ward.  I caught a taxi and spent several hours just touring around. Most notable was the taxi driver.  "Folks knew the blow was com'in," he said, "but many still stayed. At least they could have gotten out with their lives."  

I don't know why, but I was profoundly struck by the destruction of the cemeteries. Even the dead were not left alone.  The head stones were hurled in all directions.  Surely somebody kept a map showing the exact location for each one.  But who is left for those from centuries ago to care enough to restore their resting places?

There we were at Camp Coastal Care--an interdenominational restoration community carrying out daily tasks to help people rebuild their homes.  What we heard over and over was the same message. "We're so thankful you are here...we were afraid that we'd be forgotten."  The most priceless gift going?  That human connection that says we are human.  Community washed away --- and then returned with a veritable flood of people,  real people,

Priceless....really.