Ike

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.