Why New Orleans Matters

Opening

Inspired by the book Why New Orleans Matters, by Tom Piazza, New Orleans really matters. I believe there is no more important center of American culture than New Orleans. New Orleans is a unique cauldron of liberty and love of life in the face of poverty, corruption, and swampy, stultifying heat. New Orleans? music is America's music—Jazz, Blues, Rock and Roll all hail from Nawlins. Its food, dancing, the mixture of races and sexual orientations—New Orleans has led the way for all America. New Orleans'arts derive not from schooled, studied artistes but from salt of the earth working-class people that most of America ignores unless it wants someone to wash its dishes or fix its cars. New Orleans shows what happens if folks are left alone and given the liberty to compose ways to celebrate life without interference from professors, censors or puritans.

Even when faced with death they celebrate life in New Orleans. The New Orleans funeral is a paramount example of what many could learn from this amazing culture. The funeral begins in the "normal way," at the church. After the priest is through, the bereaved march into the streets, surrounding the caisson as the band lilts a soft, slow number, soulful deliberate tones crying out somber respect for the dead. And then, something magical happens. The band turns a corner on the way to the cemetery, and the music snaps to, quickens, grows louder. People all along the route join the parade, singing, dancing, drinking—even in the middle of the day! Few if any even know the deceased, all know life is now—that we work to live, we don't live to work. The ceremony of death transforms into a celebration of life, the circle is completed. Mourning becomes joy, becomes an outrageous embrace of the pleasures of this world. There is nothing more beautiful in the history of American culture than a New Orleans funeral. If you haven't been there you may not know just how special is New Orleans, this womb of blessed rituals, this tutor of joy. In Nawlins, the synergy of liberty, tolerance and beauty sings in the incomparable food, in the dancing, the music, the way people say hello to you on the street, and the way you are encouraged to enjoy life any way the spirit moves you.

New Orleans' example proclaims we are here to enjoy the blessings of this world, to drink long and deep from the cup of life, to live freely, love extravagantly and help others do the same. This is a lesson of liberty, the holy beauty and legacy of New Orleans.

Sermon

We all know rivers. I grew up East of Baltimore by the Gunpowder River. I became inspired to our nation's potential in Washington, near the Potomac, and now my new home lies just three miles from that great waterway. I finally heeded the call to ministry by the mighty Susquehanna; I served my Ministerial internship in Ridgewood, New Jersey between the Passaic and the Hudson. I fell in love on the banks of the Mississippi. The great rivers of this land meander through the milestones of all our lives.

Last April I led my First Gulf Coast Relief Trip, while serving Unitarian Society of Ridgewood as Ministerial Intern. We rewired houses for Project Hope in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, just east of New Orleans. Katrina decimated this parish. Before Katrina, St Bernard's Parish was home to more than 72,000 people; today, more than two years later, only 9,000 people call it home. While in St. Bernard Parish, Christina, Kate and I stayed at Camp Hope, where Al Blake's daughter now serves with Americorps. Situated a stone's throw from the Mississippi River, Camp Hope is a temporary housing facility run by Habitat for Humanity in what used to be a middle school. Camp Hope is home to almost 800 temporary relief workers; there I found this poem:

Only when we are shaken at the core
Do we discover of what we are truly made—
Only when we fall off the cliff
Do we finally learn to soar.

These words are part of a living diary on the walls of Camp Hope. Many Volunteers craft tributes to Camp Hope and to their experience providing disaster relief. Some leave words of wisdom, some draw pictures, some just sign their names; some testify to the truth that we all need relief, like this confession:

We came with intentions to change lives—
But our lives were changed forever.
We thought we would inspire hope and restore peace,
But instead we've been inspired to hope again
And we discovered that peace is only a dream
Where injustice reigns supreme.

These words were written by a crew from my alma mater, University of Maryland Baltimore County, on the banks of the Patapsco. These words were a welcome slice of home.

Relief trips are funny things. A group of people fly into town hoping to save someone or something, and no matter what good work they do it never seems enough. What normally happens is relief workers find out more about themselves, and they re-define home, family, neighbor. Camp Hope is maintained by volunteers from Americorps. A Federal Government program, Americorps is an inspiring group of young adults dedicated to serving their country in ways that promote peace and justice. With no money, eating peanut butter and jelly for lunch almost every day, never knowing what's for dinner, never having warm showers, never having any privacy, these amazing young people from Americorps do the work the rest of our government refuses to do. Americorps is a great hope for this nation. These young people know that improvisational communities like theirs can unite around an encompassing mission to tender to the pain of a hurting world. They live alternatives to pop culture and consumer-driven society, and their embodied experience will inform their entire generation that there are better ways to be present to our world than the ways our leaders currently model. Americorps embodies the ethics of public service. When we are present to the needs of others, our acts of service bless even the divine itself. We amplify the spirit of life when we facilitate health and reconstruction for the poor, the oppressed, or for people in crisis.

On our relief trip we were showered with blessings. We were constantly being thanked; people gave us pictures or candy bars, or bestowed the simple blessing of telling their stories. Abundant blessings come to all who work in the Gulf.

New Orleans, and how we respond to her, matters. New Orleans must be rebuilt with a focus on the needs of its poorest citizens, those people who invented the food, music and culture that the world recognizes as America's greatest gifts to human culture and liberty. We must honor their Right of Return. And if you have not been to New Orleans since Katrina, let me tell you—more resilient, generous, grateful people you will never meet. Many locals felt embarrassed we had to be there, as if it were their fault our government has yet to apply the funding and vision to restore their home. It felt odd—we were there to help them, and here they are picking up the tab, and won't take no for an answer.

New Orleans is special to me—A little slice of what liberty smells and feels like in action, a dance of joy in the streets in the very face of death. But honestly, we would have the same duty to rebuild any American city so devastated. We are bound to one another. Our gift of life compels us to honor our inherent connection to all humanity. Rebuilding New Orleans is such an act of connective compassion. This mystery of life that moves us, surrounds us, shakes us with laughter, or makes us cry at the sight of destruction—this is the evidence of our connection with all humanity.

We all encounter destruction—some through television and newspapers, some are caught in harm's way on the battlefield or the flood plain. We all need relief from the torment exacted on us by encountering devastation. One form of relief is to help disaster victims. When we feel deeply for those victims, when we allow ourselves to be moved by that feeling, and then act in response to that emotion, we perform our duty to assist the suffering. As a nation, how has America allowed its experience with the devastation caused by hurricane Katrina to move us?

I know the world tried to respond to Katrina. Oddly, our Federal Government would not let them. More than 854 million dollars was offered by foreign governments as aid for Katrina. The White house rejected all but 40 million of that aid. The Greek Government offered two cruise liners, including crew, for free, as temporary housing. The Bush administration said thanks but no thanks. They did, however, contract with Carnival Cruise lines to use two luxury liners for a price of 250 million dollars to US taxpayers. The Dutch offered to send flood control experts indefinitely to help hammer out a wide-ranging strategic vision for effective flood control. Again the White said no thanks. But why? Most Dutch live in areas that are 30 feet below sea level. Surely we would have much to learn from working with the best flood control engineers in the world. Dutch officials remain speechless at the rejection of their offer.

We obviously need a state of the art, functional levee system in New Orleans—it can be done. But for decades the United States has avoided spending the money necessary to create a levee system New Orleans could depend on. To those interested in numbers, I would point out that in 2005 the US government spent 174 Billion dollars on the war in Iraq, and only 3.9 Million was spent on the Lake Ponchatrain Levee project designed to protect New Orleans. The Dutch, a tiny nation, spend 500 million a year on maintenance and inspection of existing dykes alone. At the time Katrina Hit, most of the Louisiana National Guard equipment and personnel were not on the ground in New Orleans but in Iraq. This sad fact was also apparent last April when powerful tornadoes wiped out Greensburg, Kansas—there were not enough Guardsmen or equipment to respond quickly—they were all in Iraq. The White House, as it did after Katrina, blamed local officials for the slow response time. But the Guard troops and equipment were in Iraq. Washington has decided it is more important to wage a war of choice in Iraq than to protect our homeland with the money, equipment and troops we have provided. This mis-use of our resources appears like incompetence at best and some sinister plot at worst.

How we spend our money is a reflection of our values. America's moral calculus needs re-alignment.

By year's end we will have spent at least 750 Billion Dollars so far on the War in Iraq. That is one thousand times the cost of the Lake Ponchatrain Levee project, which would have saved New Orleans from Devastation. At times like this I am aware of the primacy of emotion. I get so angry thinking and speaking to this tragedy. My whole being shakes, moving me toward action, propelling me to connect and organize and do all I can to keep this from happening again.
This is Embodied theology.
This is a call to conscience.
This demands a better philosophy of government.
This is why New Orleans Matters.

We all need relief. The truth is that Flood control for New Orleans is a possible and necessary public expenditure. The Wetlands, barrier Islands and levees can and should be rebuilt, no matter the cost. The right of return for poor people can and should be facilitated.

Government exists to help those who cannot help themselves alone—"to provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and Secure the Blessings of Liberty."¹ This charge from our Constitution proclaims the U. S. Government's duty to reconstruct New Orleans.

Despite all the devastation, the legendary corruption at all levels of government in Louisiana, the incompetence—today my heart is filled with hope. I have hope because I have seen people moved to demand a change. People are opening their hearts, their homes and their wallets to assure New Orleans will be treated the same way they would want their own homes treated. I hear an expansion of our definition of "neighbor." I believe the man-made disaster following Katrina provides many lessons, and reasons for hope.

The people who continue to go to the Gulf Coast to rebuild will never allow this outrage to be forgotten. People are seeing that waging a war of choice, based on lies, half a world away with troops and equipment never intended for the mission endangers American security and liberty. We have seen that a too narrow vision of the role of the federal government can nearly destroy an entire region, and we reject that philosophy because it not only ignores America's highest political principles, but because it is morally bankrupt. We have also seen that Americans of conscience will always provide relief in times of crisis. Our continuing witness to the people of the Gulf is testimony that Love abounds and Hope abides.

Whether we bathe in the Euphrates, the Ganges or the Potomac, we need to be refreshed by the waters of love and hope. Let me share another sign of hope. Last May I received a call the Ridgewood Society. A Man named Bob wanted to talk to me. He read my article in the Church Newsletter where I dreamed about creating a Unitarian Universalist ministerial construction crew for disaster relief. I am a licensed Electrician. My goal is to recruit one or two-dozen Ministers with similar professional construction experience to respond rapidly to disasters. Our churches would understand we are called to do this work. This TUUL-Belt Ministry, as I named it, would be able to provide trauma relief, chaplain services and be able to skillfully begin rebuilding right away. Bob wanted to know if I was interested in a $15,000 grant as start-up money. "Well, Yes," I said. August First, 2007—TUUL-Belt Ministry officially began, with me as the Director. Bob told me if he likes what he sees more grants will be forthcoming. Our goal is to get this up and running, to canvass for matching grants, and to establish this as a permanent ministry. What a blessing.

Bob lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey. As you know Ridgewood lost more citizens than any other town in the 9/11 World Trade Center Attack. Bob lost friends, colleagues and neighbors that day. Though he is a conservative Republican, a Wall Street analyst, Bob says he is disturbed by the Bush administration's folly in Iraq and he's outraged by its response to Katrina. As Bob said, "there must be better ways to govern." New Orleans matters, because New Orleans is Miami, it is Virginia, it is Bel Air, it is anywhere people call home and suffer catastrophe.

We are all connected. We all need relief and we all are sources of relief. Do what you can, no matter how little it may seem—visit New Orleans to rebuild or for pleasure—the local merchants need our business. Make a donation to reputable relief agencies, like TUUL-Belt Ministries. Help transform our culture into one that privileges the least among us. That is the best relief I can imagine.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers, and as we gather at the riverbank may our feet be guided by wisdom and mercy, building a nation awash with justice springing into mighty fountains of joy. So May it be.

¹ Preamble to the Constitution of the United States