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Priest blogs from Biloxi as Gustav nears

Email|Link|Comments (7) Posted by Michael Paulson August 31, 2008 02:15 PM

The Rev. Jane B. Bearden, an Episcopal priest from Massachusetts, is blogging about Hurricane Gustav from Biloxi, Miss. Bearden has been working and living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast helping the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer recover from Hurricane Katrina. An excerpt from her blog, posted (by BlackBerry, which accounts for the typos) less than an hour ago:

"We had about 55 today for church. There is a sense of relief that we will get minimal hurricane frce winds and only a 15 ft surge - 1/2 of Katrina. But there is great sadness for New Orleans. I cried all the way home. One of the parihsioners had come along I 10 and she said that all she could see for mile after mile were LA plates. I am reminded of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. And now I am crying again. I have got to stop that as I need to go put baptismal records in plastic bags and feed the cats..."

I visited Bearden last fall; my story on her ministry, which is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts's Gulf Coast Mission, is here.

(Photo, showing Bearden in front of the remains of an Episcopal church demolished by Hurricane Katrina, was taken by Lori Waselchuk of WorldPictureNetwork for the Globe in September 2007.)

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7 comments so far...

I am glad there is a Rebublican Governer instead of a Dem. Gov. as last time. When she would not give premission for the Federal Gov to help out in New Orleans after President Bush called her twice to see if she would ask for assistance she said none was needed. But afterwards blame President Bush for not sending help. It's the city Mayor and Governor that is responsible for their State, City first by law. This Governor asked President Bush for help from the get go.

Posted by Daddy Rabbit August 31, 08 03:56 PM

Thank you for the link to this very moving blog. Anyone who is concerned for our Gulf Coast neighbors will want to contine to read this brave priest's postings. I have included a link to her blog on my own website, http://drbones.typepad.com/, thanks to your timely reporting. Pray for the Gulf Coast. And keep up the good work, Michael.

Posted by John White August 31, 08 04:57 PM

Yes, I agree with Daddy Rabbit!

Posted by Roberta Shaw August 31, 08 07:49 PM

For the best report available from a Massachusetts ex-pat, see http://thewordofdave.blogspot.com/

Posted by KMac August 31, 08 09:49 PM

@Daddy Rabbit,

Sorry bud, It's still waaaaay too soon for your revisionism to work. We all know what happened before/during/after Katrina. It only happened a couple of years ago. You'll have to wait a generation to find anyone that is so ignorant that they'd believe your deceptive Republican propaganda. Of course, that generation may not fall for your act either if the Dems take over and education is made a priority over war.

As for the main thrust of the story; it's heartening to read about a priest and her empathy for the victims of past and future disasters. I wish her and her neighbors all the best.

Posted by Rabbit's Daddy September 1, 08 03:30 AM

Oh dear Daddy Rabbit. I wonder why the President is behaving in 2008? Anything at stake right now? And I wonder about the great failure of the Republican president after Katrina to rally the National Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers; and why has he never pushed for All-Disaster Insurance Relief legislation to prevent the insurance companies from billion-dollar profits (as they made the year after Katrina) and why has he said nothing about the sheer graft of 600 percent insurance rate increases for the beleagured homeowners of the Gulf Coast. Gee, I wonder why the president failed to help a bloc of Democratic voters in New Orleans....hmmm. No votes lost there.

Posted by Marie September 1, 08 11:48 AM

god bless you all and keep you all safe

Posted by sally September 1, 08 06:14 PM

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Michael Paulson covers religion for The Boston Globe. He shared in the Pulitzer Prize in 2003, won the Mike Berger, Templeton and Supple awards in 2008, and is a four-time winner of the Wilbur Award.
E-mail mpaulson@globe.com.

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Photo, by Yoon S. Byun of the Globe staff, shows Harriet Severino, 45, practicing Zen meditation on May 19, 2009 at a weekly gathering called Ralph Waldo Emerson Zen Sangha at the First Church in Boston (Unitarian Universalist).