Hit the Back Button to Move Fwd by Gavin Richardson

what is this?

what could it be that umc.org is going to start listing the rss feeds from blogs?

update: this link has changed, but it was an rss feed showing this blogs 5-6 latest posts. now it's just the news feeds. i think someone is up to something...

idols of the methodist blogroll

when i started bloggin almost a year ago i started because i thought i had something profound to say. after a week or so i think i said all those things and no one was listening.. maybe my mom, but even she might not have been, jonathon definitely was, he had to cause i would call him and say "did you read my post?" as i continued to blog it quickly became a spiritual practice for me and i've taken it on as such, i deal with issues that are relevant to my life; i highlight funny points, i struggle through rough spots, i share inspirations, i joke with new friends (probably the only advantage over written journals). during that period i met some great new people from all over the world and from many faith backgrounds. this has been a real trip. i've learned a great deal, i've been corrected a time or two, i've been inspired many times, i've been lifted up more times than i can count.

with this said, i may have a utopian view of the blogosphere, but i am getting frustrated with the growing methodist blogroll agenda..

i keep writing, what i feel are, rants to people whom i don't know personally, but it's clear what their agendas are. i loved this blogosphere because it was a place of great conversation without agenda, even on shane's blog. somewhere along the line idols of methodism(a/b) has created a political game and more and more are jockeying for a starting spot on the team. you pick your cause and play your posts to an audience or spout out crazy stuff in order to build numbers that's not what bloggin in the methodist blogroll used to be.. (dang, i'm sounding like some oldie basking in the golden era, which happened to only be 7 months ago)..

my prayer is that many of the agendas will fade as people realize, much like i did, that you have about two weeks to talk about those 'things you have to say' after that it's just you and God.

a picture that launched 1000 comments

it may have not literally launched 1000 comments, but it's getting there. my first reaction to everyone's unrest was "get a life." however, with some time i realize that you all do have a life, and as i've mentioned before, we live these out differently and according to how our rule of life leads. dismissing everyone too, sets me up as some better than person, who i try never to be (some days i'm better than others). i hold high regard for people i've met through this medium. as proven by the evening, friendships are forged through this.

i think shane puts out some good points and i'd agree whole heartedly with him. i don't have the same practices as him, but that's okay.

as a youth minister, and one that's been around for a long time to see kids grow into adulthood and family life. it's more important to me to show be who i am within a social context. this would include drinking. i don't hide the fact that i drink, because to me i'm not ashamed that i can drink responsibly.

as a methodist we come to understand discipleship through our relationships with others & practices. in relationships with youth and young adults i do share my view & struggles with alcohol. even times when i felt i was alcoholic, so i stopped drinking until i felt comfortable enough with myself that i had self-control (took about 6 months). i think youth and young adults need to hear a lot more of the "this is okay as long as you don't become something you are not" (speaking of drunkenness) over the "it's bad and you shouldn't ever ever do it." to me that later response is much more adolescent in dealing with the problem of alcoholism.

please note i am not advocating drinking with this statement: in regards to practicing our faith one needs to name what are their rulers of their life are in order to ask for help from God or others. if alcohol has a hold on you, then you have a problem.. if you are addicted to blogging, then you have a problem.. as with any bad form, one has to work one those positive things in their lives to get back to where they need to be. be it, prayer, service, worship, etc.

drinking beer or wine (and that's all i'll drink) does not impede my faith practices or disrupt the relational ministry that God makes me a part of. if it did, i'd stop, no problems. it's a whole lot easier to quit that than fast food or coke.. if tried that with no success

outing locusts and honey: last name contest

i'm okay with outing john after his recent tabloid stories. turns out that we don't know johns last name because he's a rogue librarian secret agent, fighting government and social battles in his head.

known for his slander and outright crazy thought, he's now been silenced by the fbi. i ask why? we always knew john was crazy.. but no one listened hard enough to be affected in the blog world. does the government know something that we don't know? i'm thinking john is a secret agent masked as a harmless librarian who blogs on company time.

contest: who can "out" secret agent john ?? code name "locusts and honey." let's give a last name to this threat to our national security. winner receives peace of mind that the world is a safer place.

which saint am i?

so apparently i am in touch with my feminine side

You are Julian of Norwich! It's all about God, to you. You're convinced that the world has a happy ending. Everyone else is convinced that you're a closet hippie, but you love them anyway.
Which Saint Are You?

thanks: thoughts from a clay pot

What Famous Leader Are You?
thanks: theresa

wesleyan bloggers and unruly children

today was blogger day. i spent lunch with a group of wesleyan bloggers. it was cool, but a small group. not sure where everyone was. jonathon, jay, ciona, steve, and myself sat around talking about gulfside being rebuilt, the last general conference and the international delegation there, and steve is having trouble getting started bloggin but yet, he has some great ideas to share. jay, i think, recorded the event, so i wouldn't be surprised if something made the upcoming methocast.

this evening i treated erin to an date with metho-bloggers. from left to right, cole, josh, jonathon, erin, myself, and shane. this was a spirited time with some great laughs (generally at the expense of others), blog talk, and church talk (surprise on that one). it's amazing how much fun we all have together and the friendship forged over this past year of blogging together. could this be the parallel that we all really can come to the table and talk without our political polarizations? if only the church blogged, then we'd be in a much better place of communication.

we talked about our hopes and visions for the methodist blogosphere, collaborations with some of the umc's varied agencies and some new projects to dream of. we hope that all that stuff will be something we can converse about more in the coming weeks and months (that would mean we actually got something done). i think for some of us who have been doing this methodist bloggin thing for awhile, the fun of deconstructing the umc has passed, the feeling of reconstructing and making some positive change is where we are leaning, which sucks, cause it's so much easier to tear stuff apart and be critical than it is to actually offer feasible change.

there was this one point in the night where cole insisted on witnessing to josh. it was a bit awkward, but josh repented of his sins admitting he was a liar and thief. more tragic is josh's new found sin selling his soul to the devil. thanks to cole, josh won't spend eternity in hell, which kinda stinks.. i'd love to hear his blog commentary from hell.

rest in peace

for a number of years a boy whom i've never met has been on my prayers. graden gaines, is a young man who was battling cancer for over two years (that i know of). his battle was something we prayed for weekly as a youth community at hermitage umc. he's continued to be with me as i received updates then and now.

on saturday i received word that graden lost his battle with cancer. today, i checked in with his older brother, who i'm connected with through myspace. he write this in a blog post on september 16th.

GRADEN
today was the best day of my bothers life. he gets to experience somethin that we can only imagine. he is 100 percent better, no pain, and happy. thanks everyone that has prayed for him for so long, and we all got wat we wanted, for him to get better, and be cancer free, we were jus hopin that he would be better and still be here with us. but that wasnt the lords plan, but thanks so much for bein there for him, and me , and our family.

i'm not a person who thinks that God inflicts cancer or pain on people. however, it's also not a time to argue theology in the midst of the death of a child of God. i've also said that words just cannot comfort with a time like this, so i refrain from wordy musings of my own, in turn lift up a prayer & words from henri nouwen.

Lord, we lift up the spirit of Graden to your home in heaven. Peace & comfort to us all as we come to live our lives without Graden. Never let us forget his spirit as he has touched our hearts

nouwen words

When we lose a dear friend, someone we have loved deeply, we are left with a grief that can paralyse us emotionally for a long time. People we love become part of us. Our thinking, feeling and acting are codetermined by them: Our fathers, our mothers, our husbands, our wives, our lovers, our children, our friends ... they are all living in our hearts. When they die a part of us has to die too. That is what grief is about: It is that slow and painful departure of someone who has become an intimate part of us. When Christmas, the new year, a birthday or anniversary comes, we feel deeply the absence of our beloved companion. We sometimes have to live at least a whole year before our hearts have fully said good-bye and the pain of our grief recedes. But as we let go of them they become part of our "members" and as we "re-member" them, they become our guides on our spiritual journey.

a special day

today is a special day, sorta. this isn't the exact day, but back in 2001 i met a girl the morning of the usc/bama game. i was heading to a conference design team meeting for warmth in winter. the meeting was at 9:30am, which was really early for me as a youth director then. i, as was customary, was fashionably late. i pulled into the church parking lot and into a parking spot. as i pulled in a girl pulled in next to me, also fashionably late. i noticed her and i noticed the stickers on her car "university of south carolina." i promptly got out of my car and my first words to said girl were "i'm sorry for you." what ensued was a little argument of who has the better football team. to which i won (later i found out what an accomplishment it was to leave said girl speechless).

after we made it into the meeting i was wondering who this random girl was. she seemed pretty cool and most definitely cute in her overalls and red shirt. she seemed to know everyone i knew, but i hadn't seen her before. come to find out, she's been doing conference stuff for years and just graduated from usc. hmm...

we had a professional relationship for a couple years after that. at some point i clumsily asked her out (she loves to tell that story) and it has been a blessing ever since. I Love my Erin! so this is a special day for us.

note: for those who are curious. bama lost said game of that fateful morning.. and the next game after that. i'm hoping we win today so that i have some bragging rights for the next few years till we play usc again.

a community has to want community

on wednesday night as a youth gathering we continued our weekly time of 'community and contemplation' (yes, not the fanciest names, but it works). basically we spend time chillin out, we do a round of "hi's a low's" & then into a time of contemplation aided by a prayer station/meditation.

this week we focused on community. i brought in this installation of the youth room. simply put, it's a little bowl with a bunch of little papers with all the youth's names on it. it is something that we as a youth ministry team prayer over each time we meet, we all pull names of the kids and pray for a few each time. when i come into work i pull a name or two and pray over them. note: the significance of the bowl is that as just one or two ministers we cannot support all the youth in the church, it does take a whole church to minister to it's youth.

so i introduced this to the youth and had them pray for each other as part of their community, an element of intercessory prayer and just seeing each other as people with spiritual needs. some of the youth got into and prayed continuously for as many as they could... however, a handfull sifted through names just to find their own (not a small task in the darkness of candlelight and with some 200 names). it was a werid mixture of community and selfishness and it frustrated me and those who wanted the time of community and contemplation.

i walked away from this time bothered and a bit angry.. as i've settled on this, it's okay to me.. we need to know that not everyone from a community wants a Christian community.. we still have the consumer mentality because that is all many of us know.. i suppose a community has to really want community

it's like medieval jazz

spent the evening tonight at the taize' worship at scarritt bennett. i must say it was a whole lot of what i needed. with things being so hectic around i've lost track of what has been important in my life. i'm a long way off (cause i still have all that stuff), but i've named those things important and will begin to put them back at the top of my life.

i stayed for the start of a taize' workshop afterwards that jonathon was participating in. while talking about the feelings of the worship it was mentioned that taize' is like "medieval jazz," i like that.

a week of talking points

so this past week or so i haven't been able to gather formed thoughts in the written express able format. i've had some great experiences & conversations though that are worth sharing in simple talking points...

• the war in iraq: my brother was home on a 15 day leave the last two weeks (left on sunday) while he was home we got to take in the opening alabama football game and a day at my parents down in b'ham. erin has been reading quite a bit in order to gain a better understanding of Islam and Islamic culture (spurred on by a bad sunday school experience where there was some insane thought thrown out, but she, or others, were not knowledgeable in the subjects to give good argument). having them together they talked about Iraq and one of the things that shawn mentioned was "they don't know anything but fear." erin was in the midst of reading a book that hasn't been retailed yet (courtesy of jennifer freeman) about a woman who grew up in a family that was close to saddam, he apparently had her call him uncle. this autobiography goes through the culture of iraq, the reign of hussein and the eventual fear & atrocities that ensued (rapes, executions, etc.). to this we came to wonder, what effect does fear have on the human spirit physically and spiritually.. and once that fear is gone, how then does one act?
• mountain top: i had a dream the other night that i received a phone call that the ministry was being shut down. the closing of doors. i did feel better, after participating in a series of board meetings, that things are not going that way, but leading towards recovery. my efforts have felt very positive and i hope that God continues to move within us.
• UMYouth: we had our fall camping trip last weekend. it was a great time by all. it's always fun to go swimming in the rivers here in tennnessee. one of the youth who is in a battle with depression and fitting in had a great experience and everyone is starting to accept him just as he is. he's become more and more endearing to me as well. we will start our reimagining process of our youth lounge area next week. there is quite a bit of buzz and crazy ideas floating around already. i'm excited to see what God has in store for that.
• conference: we had our initial meetings for "warmth in winter" our biggest youth event of the year, some 2500 youth.. we had 10 youth that wanted to participate in the design team process. our theme is growing on me.. "Get Real Be Fearless".. the premise being that one has to get authentic with who one is and then be fearless in being that person.. what is cool is that the kids came up with using some superhero's for underlying stories within the event.. i'm stoked about that. i hope they use 'super friends' and the 'hall of justice' that'd be sweet.
• church: michael and i have had some nice conversations with each other and the staff on discerning ways to deepen our worship experiences for each of our worshiping congregations. our church retreat is this weekend.. a bit more than 24 hours away.. i really should get to work on that..

shalom -g

you make me tired

blogging has trailed off for me these past few days. probably had something to do with the content of a conversation with erin tonight.

erin "what are you up too?"
gavin "i just got home."
erin "it's 8:30"
gavin "yup"

now i know you want to know the word for word transcript, but i'll paraphrase for time purposes. i rehashed my day where i had a lengthly staff meeting & last meeting before our church retreat (this weekend). there i found out that i have a whole lot to do before tomorrow in getting ready for the retreat. i couldn't work on the retreat after the meeting cause i had to get ready for a pumpkin patch meeting.

this is all added onto my need to help mountain top, the contract project with the umph, the recent camping trip, some past & upcoming conference meetings, and my job... to this

erin said "you make me tired"

well, i am tired, so welcome to my pity party. -g

weekend with the celts

the celts had a great appreciate for nature, something i think that we have lost as americans. celts, and many from ancient lifestyles understand the natural workings of the earth, and how we survive on the land. our lives depend on it.

through St. Patrick and St. Columba, they came to understand the God of Abraham & Jesus Christ because they speak to us all through the created heaven in our earth.

the youth community of hendersonville first umc spent time as a celtic community appreciating, listening, seeing, & praying with the God that created the beautiful earth. we still don't know what it's like to be dependent on the ground (we don't truly understand the parallel of life with God and life with earth), our appreaciate for beauty and creation is there.

our weekend started with setting up camp and hitting the river and doing some cliff jumping (yes, that happened & it's probably not going to happen again, but never say never with youth), rope swinging, swimming in some natural pools, lounging on some fallen trees, sitting in the hammock, cooking over the grill, ultimate dodgeball with a hs wrestling team, & evening prayers with the community of iona.

a hermit prayer
O Son of the living God, old eternal King, I desire a hidden hut in the wilderness that it may be my home.

A narrow little blue stream beside it and a clear pool for the washing away of sin through the grace of the Holy Ghost.

A lovely wood close about it on every side, to nurse birds with all sorts of voices and to hide them with its shelter.

Looking south for heat, and a stream through its land, and good fertile soil suitable for all plants.

A beautiful draped church, a home for God from Heaven, and bright lights above the clean white Gospels.

Enough of clothing and food from the King of fair fame, and to be sitting for a while
and praying to God in every place.

going camping

hitting the road tomorrow to take some 50 youth and adults on an overnight camping trip. it should be some good fun hiking, creep swimming, jumping around some waterfalls.. hmmm, 40 youth hiking, creek swimming, & jumping around some waterfalls..... i hope no one gets hurt... maybe i should ask for prayer requests

shalom
-g

blessing others

To bless means to say good things. We have to bless one another constantly. Parents need to bless their children, children their parents, husbands their wives, wives their husbands, friends their friends. In our society, so full of curses, we must fill each place we enter with our blessings. We forget so quickly that we are God's beloved children and allow the many curses of our world to darken our hearts. Therefore we have to be reminded of our belovedness and remind others of theirs. Whether the blessing is given in words or with gestures, in a solemn or an informal way, our lives need to be blessed lives.

it's been awhile since i reflected on some nouwen thoughts. this one struck me; as 'the blame' game begins with the disaster in the gulf, the coming and goings of the 'hearts on fire' conference, etc. if only we as humans showed the grace in our words & actions by blessing others.

dear friend

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. 1 Corinthians 2

this is a scripture i found years ago when i was being radically changed into a person of Christian leadership. gratefully, this verse has kept with me for years. i was reminded of the words of paul when i received this email.

Gavin, I want you to know that I love you. You've perhaps been the most influential person in my life, whether or not you realize that. Alot of people tend to view Christians as hypocrits. I was one of those people for several years. I thought about you tonight as I went through one of the most emotional spells of my life, wondering where in the world I had gone wrong. Where did I begin to think that I was too good for God or that I didn't need him, or that he wasn't real? I never found out, but I did begin to think about some of the conversations we've had over the past year or so, and I thought, "man...I really miss that guy. What would he have done in this situation? He would have admitted his wrongs and said a prayer." So that's what I did. I just finally broke down and said the most sincere prayer I've said in a long time. I feel content for the first time in a very long time...

Thank you and God bless,
'youth'

i am humbled when i receive a note such as this. i do not have the wise theology that can explain truths that brings people to prayer. i am not a biblical scholar who can teach all about the trinity and geneologies of families so that people are compelled to read. however, i am humbled that Christ is with me and those around me can see this, despite my lackings. -amen

looking for gulfside assembly on google

i have had a number of hits of people wanting to find out about gulfside assembly (not to mention other  areas of the gulf). so that you don't waste time on my blog go see jay he has a post thinking of gulfside and now an ariel photo of the area. much to everyones expectations and dark dreams, it's not a pretty picture.

prayers of the church

i'm glad i found these prayers of the church. Lord In Your Mercy, Hear Our Prayers

-thanks jay

provide housing

i just found this site www.hurricanehousing.org you can sign up to offer housing relief.

roll tide roll!

in just a few hours i will be seated at some bar saying "Rooooollll Tide Roll!" yes, the beauty of college football is upon us and my beloved crimson tide kick off against mtsu. being in the south football is a part of the landscape that affects families and lives through generations.

i grew up an alabama fan. my granddad, an alabama fan, had a huge respect for 'the bear' and the university. my dad was subsequently an alabama fan, thus i am, my brother and part of my sister (she went to penn state, so she's a bit more loyal to them). once my family moved to new jersey shawn and i, as well as the rest of our family was identified with the u of a. when it came time for college people just assumed i was going to bama, which, after doing some price comparisons it was a good idea (even with scholarship money to some northern schools).

my bro and myself have since graduated from bama, shawn's wife tiff graduate there too. however, it gets messy once we get out of our own immediate family. erin graduate from the university of south carolina (or as they might say, the original usc). we actually first met on a saturday that usc and bama were playing. since we don't play every year, it's quite a coincidence. my uncle ray has been a professor and staff person at university of tennessee for a number of years. recently my 2nd uncle was named president of auburn. family reunion is interesting to say the least.

college football is not for everyone, but for me and the area i live in, it's part of our identity and family threads.

bishop wills weighs in on katrina

in my attempt to understand my bishop, here is his latest letter to the clergy & laity of the conference regarding hurricane katrina. in all it's a nice letter. he highlights what can be done now and into the future. he doesn't coat anything either, which is nice. there is also an emphasis on west florida-alabama area as they are still hurting from ivan.

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

There is a time when the mission of the church is heightened. There is a time when support for our neighbors is placed even more directly in our hands. One of those times is now! Hurricane Katrina has stretched Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana to unimaginable levels. Recovery efforts will take years and volunteer help will be needed for the duration of the recovery.

Pastoral support is critical, and, as you well know, the key to passing along information is the local church. Therefore, I am writing to let you know what we believe to be the immediate needs of those affected by Katrina and how we can help.

Clean up and debris removal is the first priority. UMCOR has identified an urgent need for health kits and flood buckets. Several districts and the conference are securing trailers and trucks to transport these items to UMCOR’S Sager Brown at various points over the weekend and as time goes forward. Details will be available at the conference and district offices, through listserv, at tnumc.org and at theresponder.blogspot.com.

While the extent of the damage is just now being identified, UMCOR has already begun its response. In coming days, UMCOR will coordinate relief efforts, such as making assessments, receiving volunteers, and distributing aid. UMCOR consultants, including Memphis Conference’s Christy Smith, are being deployed to the Louisiana and Alabama-West Florida Conferences to undertake the same tasks. Alabama-West Florida reports that the damage from Hurricane Katrina is much more severe in Alabama than from Hurricane Ivan last year. This compounds the damage in those areas which have not fully recovered from Ivan.

As the relief and recovery proceeds there will be the need for numerous Disaster Response Teams to help in this recovery effort. UMCOR has already sent out an appeal for teams that are ready and willing and able to respond to the devastation from Hurricane Katrina. In the early weeks, most opportunities for teams will be for those experienced in Early Response who coordinate with someone in the affected area and come with their own shelter, food, water, and other supplies. Once organization and coordination improve over time, annual conferences will be able to host teams that are not fully self-sufficient.

I am therefore asking you to consider how you and your church can support our neighbors to the south. You can contribute in one or more of the following ways: financial contributions to UMCOR Hurricanes 2005 or Tennessee Conference Disaster Fund (to ship supplies) by having the Church Treasurer send the money to the Conference Treasurer at 1110 19th Ave., S., Nashville, TN 37212; collecting Health Kits and Flood Buckets; and organizing a Volunteers in Mission team.

Please contact Jason Brock at the Conference office for more information on ways to give, organize, and connect with relief and recovery. [email protected], 615-329-1177.

In His Love,

Richard J. Wills, Jr.
Jer. 29:11

thoughts on the gulf coast 2

jay has a really excellent post on mourning the loss of gulfside assembly. it's a must read. wednesday i received this email from some old friends down in the gulfport area. i was particularly affected by the exacting names of places. it means nothing to me, i wouldn't know this place from any other, only that it is gone. i can relate to one of those times when someone says 'you know that place, it's not a publix or walmart.. except.. in this case, publix or walmart are not around either.

(the exact sentence/paragraph structure might be off due to emailing)

Allen wrote:

OK, Everyone sit down before you read this.

I just got back from a 3.5 hour flight over the Mississippi Gulf Coast from Bay St. Louis to Pascagoula.

I have no words--I'm not sure there ARE words--for what I just saw. I am in shock. The destruction of the Gulf Coast was of a level that Hurricane Camille only began to begin to approach.

Personal. Janet's and my house is gone. An oak tree from the east side is lying on top of what looks like a section of the roof. Whatever else is left is in a pile of debris at the CSX railroad tracks to the north, along with every other house in the neighborhood, save the one house next door (Archie & Margaret's). Theirs is a spanish-southwestern style built in 1925, and it used to stand out against all the other homes. Now it IS the only other home.  The windows are all out, and it looks pretty bad. Grasslawn, an antibellum home on the other side, is gone.

Going down the coast from east to west...

Ocean Springs has heavy damage along the beach. I don't know how far back it goes.

Biloxi. Point Cadet is gone. The Hwy 90 bridge is gone. The old hwy bridge is gone. The railroad bridge is gone. All spans are down--every last one of them--except for the drawbridge in the middle. The Biloxi Casinos are mostly standing, but the barge from the Grand is north of hwy 90 now. Mary Mahoney's Restaurant is standing, but most of the surrounding buildings are gone. The Seashore Manor Methodist retirement home is the only structure standing on that stretch of beach. The windows are even unbroken. The Broadwater Marina is gone. What's left of the President Casino barge is north and west, and across Hwy 90. Edgewater Mall is standing, but it has large holes in the structure, high, all along the south side.

Edgewater Village strip mall is gone. Everything south of the railroad tracks has severe damage, if it's still standing. I didn't see the Back Bay area.

Gulfport. The Legacy Condominiums are standing, and apparently did quite well. Nearly everything around them is gone. The VA hospital complex did well. Most of the homes on either side of it are gone. The water went beyond the railroad tracks in multiple places near there. There is a continuous debris pile pushed up against the tracks all along what used to be Second Street. Almost every house there is gone. Downtown is mostly standing, but there has been water up to the tracks. The roofs of most of the buildings have visible damage. The Hancock Bank building and the MS Power Co building seem to have fared the best.  The Baptist and Presbyterian churches looked good. I couldn't see the GPT Methodist church.  The new courthouse appears to be undamaged, including the windows.  The harbor is mostly gone. The roof of Marine Life is down. The shipping terminal warehouses are there, but they have debris on the roofs, indicating that they were underwater. The Grand Casino hotel (and Oasis) did very well, but the casino barge is blocking Hwy 90 to the west. The homes in West Gulfport did better than on the east side, but only for a space. Approaching Long Beach it gets worse quickly. Keesler AFB and the Gulfport CBC. One hangar at Keesler looks bad. The rest of those structures look intact from where we were flying.

Long Beach. Everything from about 1000' south of the RR tracks is gone. The Baptist Church is standing, but gutted. St. Thomas has parts standing, but it is mostly gone. USM Gulf park looks pretty good, and it is the only structure on that section of Beach. The Methodist Church is standing, and the New Life Center looks good. The roofs look good. Water came up as high as the house next door to the Associate Pastor's parsonage. Everything south of Magnolia Street is gone. North of Magnolia Street, there is heavy damage up to about 1000' of the tracks.  On my old street of Buena Vista Dr., my old house is the first one standing. It appears from the air to have had water up to the second story. The High School, Middle School, and Reeves Middle School appear undamaged. Harper McCaughan is hurt, but I couldn't see how bad.  It probably had water, and it is about at where the survival line forms. North LB did much better, but there was lots of roof damage.

Pecan Park seems to have fared the best. The Wolf River is flooded so badly I couldn't see any structures above water. It is up to within a couple of feet of the I-10 bridge--enough that I worry for the integrity of the bridge. The harbor is gone. Every structure in the vicinity of the harbor is gone.

Pass Christian. The Wal Mart is standing, but it has been underwater.  Some Downtown buildings are standing. St Anne's is there, but it has had water over it. From the LB line westward, everything south of Second Street is gone. The only exception was Scenic Drive, where about half of the houses are standing. From Downtown west I saw nothing standing anywhere in Pass Christian. The only houses I saw standing in West Pass were the newer ones on the North Side, near the Bay of St. Louis, and those two new millionaire acres-looking houses on the beach about halfway to Pass Marianne. The du Pont site is there, but we didn't fly north far enough to assess.

The Hwy 90 bridge over the Bay of St. Louis is down. Every span. The railroad bridge is down.  Every span.

Bay St. Louis appears to have had water in the downtown area. Most of the buildings are standing, but most have roof damage. All the homes southwest of the downtown area, along the beach road, are gone. The homes west of the beach road had the heaviest roof damage I saw anywhere except in East Biloxi.

Waveland. We didn't fly all the way to Waveland, but I could see down the beach road quite a ways, and I saw nothing standing.

Other. Hwy 90 is washed out in sections all along the coast, from Biloxi to Bay St. Louis. Huge sand drifts obscure many more sections of pavement. There is a lot more natural sand along the beach, maybe another 500-1000'. Ship Islandis mostly gone.  There is a clump of trees on a sand bar on the east, and there is a sand bar on the west.

Fort Massachusetts is there, but has sand berms about 15' high along the southwest side.

Cat Island has a new shape. It doesn't have "fingers" any more. It is just a continuous stretch, like Ship Island used to be, only with trees.

My estimates. Based on the debris lines and what I know of the geography of the MS Gulf Coast, the tides were indeed in the 30-foot range, all the way from Bay St. Louis to Biloxi. Based on the damage I saw to roofs, and to structures unaffected by water, the winds would have had to be greater than 100 knots, possilby as great as 140 knots. I couldn't see looting/looters, but I could see the opportunity for it. The casualty numbers, when they come in, will be staggering.

In closing. I have never seen any manner of destruction like this. It is bad in Biloxi and Gulfport...as bad as anything I saw after Hurrican Camille in 1969. The devastation of Pass Christian is indescribable. The news reporting only scratches the surface.  In my opinion, based on my considerable life experience, the federal government should declare martial law, and rush every possible measure of aid to this area.

Janet and I are praying for the survivors on the ground there. Please join us. I will report more later.  Please pass this report along to others who have evacuated, and need to know.

Allen

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