I like Ike.
It was the first political campaign I ever remembered
sitting in the back seat of the car
while my parents went into the voting precinct
to cast their ballot for Ike.
I've never heard that name
unless it referred to our former president,
who won that day.
A different Ike is courting us this season.
He's in the Gulf of Mexico
bellowing His presence
like the eerie sounds you hear on Halloween.
Houston is evacuating.
took me a while to get home this morning.
It's getting worse they tell me - the traffic.
The winds will start around noon tomorrow
and the rains with them.
They'll beat us and leave us for dead
if they have their way.
We've been through this drill so many times before.
Ike will not triumph over us.
He's just a blowhard, a good excuse for an afternoon off today.
We shall greet him courageously and defend ourselves.
We may end up battered and bruised,
but in the process we shall discover strength we didn't know was there.
We'll emerge from this stronger and wiser
and full of stories
about how Ike tried to conquer us
and we beat his ass.
I look forward to all the stories
of how God has truly been in our midst
and how God will help us in the recovery.
