By The Rev. Jane Dwinell I spent the weekend of June 8-11 in Houston, Texas. You may recall that this was when tropical -storm Allison unleashed her fury on the Houston area, drenching parts of the city with up to 35 inches of rain. The Houston meteor- ologist said that would be the equivalent of 28 feet of snow‘! It was quite something, being dropped into a city in crisis. I had been invited to be the guest preacher for the Houston Interfaith Gay Pride Worship Service, to be held Sunday evening June 10. I arrived Friday afternoon, expecting to have an interesting week- end being escorted about by different members of the Houston gay communi- ty. Two wonderful women, Cynthia and Wendy, picked me up at the airport — then all hell broke loose. When they returned to my hotel with another cou- The Spiritual Essence electricity. That meant no water, no phone, and no air conditioning. I dressed and found the emergency stair- well. It was pitch black. Several other folks were up by then, I and a small group of us made our way down stairs in the darkness, stopping at each floor to prop open the door to the stairwell with what- ever we could find. You know those decorative tables and flower arrange- ments that usually sit by hotel elevators? They made great doorstops. Once in the lobby, I dis- covered chaos. People were crowded several deep at the front desk, and lug- gage was already starting to pile up. The basement was flooded, as was the lower level of the parking garage. The streets had several inches of standing water in them, but the rain had stopped. I overheard conversations - many of plle"to take atne':o-ut;1fi§ftfi-ir1"«iI_'.t.§.‘..iZfl.'l<§‘gti’ests werethere for a‘ ner, the skies had opened up and everyone decided, for safety’s sake, that we’d just stay at the hotel for our ‘meal. Tucked away in an elegant restaurant with no windows enjoying Texas food and hospitality, we had no idea what was going on outside. By the time we finished, the streets were already start- ing to flood, and I hoped they would make it home OK. The rain continued to pour unlike any storm I’d ever been in. I watched the fury from my 9th floor bal- cony, and finally settled down to sleep. At 1 a.m. I was woken up by the loud crash and flash of lightning and thunder, and then everything went dark. The electricity had gone off. Being the country girl that I am, I was uncon- cerned and went back to ‘sleep. When I got up Saturday morning, there still was no .ways . chaos, conference and decided to go home, ifthey_ could find a route. All major high- in Houston were closed due to flooding. Several times I made my way up and down those nine flights of stairs. Each time I was- in the stairwell, people were being helped. I was amazed at the number of.folks who carry flashlights with them! I helped a French-speaking woman as we went down in near-darkness. I counted steps for her, “un, deux, trois... ” in my limited French. Even with the the incredibly humid heat, and people’s concerns about their safety and well-being, everyone pitched in to help each other. We knew nothing about each other, and that didn’t matter. We were humans together, and we had to work together to survive. Eventually, Allison moved out into the Gulf of Mexico, and the city began to dry up. I found lodging at another hotel, and on Saturday night Steve and Bob took me out for great Chinese food at the one restaurant they found open — and that was after they had to deal with five inch- es of standing water in their living room. Sunday brought sunny ‘skies, amaz- ing humidity, and piles of broken tree limbs, trash, and abandoned cars as the water receded. I had been asked to bring a message of hope from Vermont to Texas, and to share with them the story of last’s year’s legislative session and the fight for the Civil Union law. And I did that. But it was the people of Houston who showed me much about hope as well, with their cheerful and hospitable nature even as their city was being destroyed, their hospitals knocked out of commission," _ homeswrecked by that life-giving substance — water. ' Sometimes we, and our opponents, forget that we are all human, that death and tragedy, as well as love and joy, come to us all. I hope it does not take a , major weather event for us to remember that. I hope that we can bow to each other and say, “Namaste” — the divine essence in me honors the divine essence in you. And, without destruction, “May justice roll down like water, and peace like an ever-flowing stream.” The Rev. Jane Dwinell serves the First Universalist Parish, a Unitarian Universalist congregation, in Derby Line, VT She lives with her partner, Sky, and their two children, Dana and Sayer, on the shores of beautiful Lake Memphremagog. july 2001 OlTl‘1 - 15 BOB GREEN M.A. LICENSED CLINICAL MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELOR (802) 653-2390 (soo) 330-5025 South Burlington Individuals and Couples Michael Gigrmte, Ph.D. Psychosynthesis Counseling, Psychotherapy, 6' Consultation (802) 254-8032 53 Myrtle St., Brattleboro, VT 05301 .e-mail mgigante@together.net 3 Feminist TheragL Leah Wittenberg Licensed Mental Health Counselor Psychotherapy for individuals and couples 82 Church St., Burlington sliding fee scale (802)658-9590 ext.4 rand: -: theft Clifford D. Trott, Jr., Ph.D. Licensed Clinical Psychologist - Doctorote I 168 Battery Street Burlington, Vermont 0540i 802.862.0836 ctrott@together.net COUNSELING CENTER OF NORTHERN VERMONT M ‘:47’: ‘.2 JYCHOTHERAPY FOR"INDMDUALS COUPLES FAMILIES .1 . '3. '»:,"' 0 Coming Out I Family Issues 0 Sexual Identity - Separations 0 Life Ttarisitions o Endings/Loss Lynn Goyette LCMHC Bill McBroom Licsw 802.860.6560 802.229.5220 BURLINGTON MOANTPELIER Susan McKenzie MS. Jungian Psychoanalyst Licensed Psychologist-’— Master Specializing in issues of Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexua/ and Transgendered individuals and couples Quechee — White River Junction (802) 295-5533 Insurance Accepted James R. Nelso Licensed. Clinical Mental Health Counselor Burlington, V ,_ (802)651-7764