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Written by Rev Michael Bresciani
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Sunday, 05 August 2007 |
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Word Count: 1023 America Shares Grief with Minneapolis - Many Miracles amid the Mayhem
Top fire fighter, Chief Jim Clark of the Minneapolis Fire Department
exclaimed that the first miracle was the low death toll. Clark said, “We were
surprised that we didn’t have more people seriously injured and killed, I think
it was something of a miracle.” With upwards of 500 trucks & SUVs">cars crossing the bridge at
any given moment that qualifies as a miracle for most of us.
Other stories are emerging even as rescuers are still combing the rapidly moving
waters of the murky Mississippi. Divers rushed to the scene with hopes that if
they responded quickly they might find victims who found ways to survive in
pockets of air or that were only partially submerged in their vehicles. Although
that hope was deferred they are still risking their lives in the dangerous
waters to help account for the casualties and provide accounting for victims
families.
Hundreds of ordinary citizens were said to have shown up immediately and offered
to help in rescue work. Some didn’t wait and were found trying to assist anyone
of the survivors they could. Minnesotans can be proud of the University of
Minneapolis students who also showed up in numbers and offered help. Most were
asked to stay clear when professional rescuers arrived for their own safety but
their effort will not go unnoticed.
Some witnesses said that when the bus load of 58 children was seen teetering on
the edge of a collapsed section of the bridge it took their breath away.
Similarly breathtaking was the news that all 58 passengers escaped unharmed.
One 9 year old girl called her father from the bus on her cell phone. When
interviewed by Fox News the little girl seem more composed than her father who
was visibly shaken and looked like he was fighting to hold back the tears.
The grandmother of two African American school girls, Samarra aged 6 and Josette
aged 4 said that even though the girls’ faces were disheveled and dirty when she
first saw them “It just had a glow like it was an angel. It just brought 'em
back to us.”
Words like “It was a miracle” or “I thank God he helped me” were commonly heard
among survivors. The immediate reactions of the survivors sounded more like a
time of testimony in a church than interviews with disaster survivors.
The Salvation Army was on hand immediately along with other organizations and
the Southern Baptist relief unit stationed in Minnesota offered its help as
needed. The Red Cross wasted no time getting on the scene and conducting a blood
drive and calling for contributions to aid victims’ families through the “Twin
Cities Chapter of the American Red Cross.” Blood drives are being conducted by
the Memorial Blood Centers of Minnesota.
First Lady Laura Bush gently tried to steer the attention of Minnesotans away
from the calamitous to the consoling. In a statement issued after visiting the
site of the disaster on Friday August 3, 2007 only hours after the bridge
collapsed she said, “people have been encouraged and their spirits lifted after
hearing "so many good stories.”
Laura Bush, who is heralded for possessing some of the most powerful maternal
instincts in any First Lady in our history, threw her attention on nurturing
what remains and not centering on what is lost. No reports indicate that her
visit and her words were anything but consoling and were welcomed.
President Bush also visited the site to assess the damages and to see how the
Federal Government can help in recovery efforts. In a brief but meaningful
statement President Bush called for prayer when the news first reached him
during a cabinet meeting. He said he thanked fellow Americans that were lifting
up those involved in prayer.” Many Americans know we have a praying President
and most are thankful that we have a leader that calls upon God to help those he
is charged with governing.
The Minnesota Twins baseball team was saddled with a perplexing situation at the
time of the bridge collapse. The game against the Royals was scheduled to start
only one hour after the bridge collapsed. Not wanting to put twenty five
thousand fans back out on to city streets the Twins decided to go on with the
game. Although sagging in the league this season the Twins scored a different
kind of win on the evening of the I-35W bridge collapse.
The team Minnesotans love, which has produced greats such as Harmon Killebrew
lost to the Royals on that fateful day but won a bigger game in the hearts of
Minnesotans and all Americans when they tastefully called for a moment of
silence for the victims and rescuers at the I-35W site. The moment of silence
was announced in the Metrodome over the public address system and it is reported
that you could hear a pin drop in the deep silence produced by the 25,000 fans.
Hats off to the Minnesota Twins!
The catastrophe in Minnesota amplifies the noted enigmatic nature of almost all
American citizens. It is best summarized in the familiar adage, “when they’re
bad, they’re very bad – but when they’re good, they’re very good.” Perhaps the
one tragedy that seems greater than the tragedy in Minneapolis is that Americans
don’t often get so good until after a tragedy.
Let it not be said that this old gospel preacher did not appendage an article of
this kind without a scriptural admonition. It is carefully chosen and is meant
to remind Americans that when alleviating suffering, grief and affliction you
are never more close to God.
“And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul;
then shall thy light rise in obscurity and thy darkness be as the noon day.”
Isaiah 58:10 KJV
Rev Michael Bresciani and the American Prophet website offer sincere condolences
to the families and friends of those lost to the tradegdy on the I-35W bridge.
"The Website for Insight"
http://www.americanprophet.org
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