By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged
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Texas likes to brag that it’s “like a whole other country.”
I don’t suppose, though, that whoever came up with that slogan had Siberia in mind.
As a severe winter storm crippled the state’s energy grid this week, my parents were among 4 million residents who lost electricity. Mom and Dad endured a really chilly night before going to stay at my sister’s house for a few days.
Heroes (think “Mattress Mack”) and villains (#FlyingTed) have emerged, while people of faith — as they tend to do during disasters — rally to help.
Here at ReligionUnplugged.com, Jillian Cheney tells the inspiring story of a church that partnered with a Jeep club to rescue snowed-in families.
Houses of worship losing power themselves hampered some efforts to provide reliable sanctuary, but “leaders are doing all they can to connect and comfort their communities,” Christianity Today’s Kate Shellnutt reports.
Churches and other faith groups teamed up to help open an emergency warming center for the homeless at a Dallas convention center, Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana notes.
Catholic churches in San Antonio and Fort Worth opened their doors, according to the Catholic News Agency’s Jonah McKeown.
Among others mobilizing to help: Southern Baptists, Churches of Christ and Episcopalians.
This column appears in the online magazine Religion Unplugged.
Photo by Matthew T. Rader, via Wikimedia Commons
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