{"id":39539,"date":"2018-06-27T19:15:12","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T23:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/?p=39539"},"modified":"2018-06-27T19:15:12","modified_gmt":"2018-06-27T23:15:12","slug":"the-task-at-hand-for-white-evangelicalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2018\/06\/27\/the-task-at-hand-for-white-evangelicalism\/","title":{"rendered":"The task at hand for white evangelicalism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The top picture here is of a popular set of \u201cwood and furniture repair markers\u201d that we sell at the Big Box. These work, more or less, although I\u2019m not sure that \u201crepair\u201d is really quite the right word for what they do.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re exactly what they appear to be: a set of permanent markers in varying shades of brown that can be used to redarken scratches or scuff marks to make them blend in a bit better with the rest of the wood of your furniture or floor. They don\u2019t really fix<\/em> anything, but they hide<\/em> it well enough. It\u2019s like stage makeup for hardwood floors. It\u2019s only a surface-level, cosmetic solution, but that\u2019s fine if the problem itself is only a surface-level, cosmetic problem.<\/p>\n

The picture below that is just what it says in the caption: \u201cGalveston, Texas. Galveston grade raising. Pumping in the filling.\u201d This was neither a cosmetic problem nor a cosmetic solution. It was one of the most jaw-droppingly ambitious and audacious public-works and civilization-building projects ever undertaken, anywhere.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The city of Galveston was almost completely destroyed by a massive hurricane in 1900<\/a>. An estimated 8,000 of the city\u2019s 38,000 residents were killed. Every home and structure in the city sustained damage.<\/p>\n

After the storm, the city had to rebuild, but they realized that rebuilding everything just as it had been before would mean that the same destruction would happen again the next time such a storm struck its island. If another storm brought another 16-foot surge, their rebuilt city would suffer the same fate yet again. More of the same would just mean a repeat of the death and destruction.<\/p>\n

So the people of Galveston decided to raise the city. The whole thing<\/em>. They built a massive, 17-foot seawall on the Gulf side of the island and then jacked up every remaining building onto stilts before pumping in fill to raise the ground up to meet them. They jacked up houses, stores, churches \u2014 even a massive stone cathedral \u2014 and they did all of this with horses and steam power<\/em>. After facing unprecedented destruction from the deadliest natural disaster in American history, they planned and executed an unprecedented rebuilding.<\/p>\n

The raising of Galveston would be inspiring even if that attempt had failed. Just the idea<\/em> of trying to do it makes it the stuff of legend. But then they actually pulled it off. This story is worth remembering and pondering if you\u2019re ever feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the devastation and the challenge confronting you. (Something I\u2019m very much feeling today.)<\/p>\n