CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

After having said everything so far, I feel that I should include this one last chapter because I want to make sure that I am crystal clear about one of the core points that this book is attempting to make: that everyone loves a hero.

So many times I have heard the statement, "don’t be sentimental." After all, this is when a person is ruled or overcome by one’s emotion rather than reason. Perhaps there is a good argument against falling under the grip of sentimental feelings but when you are talking about love—love of God in the case—I find it almost impossible to ignore emotional feelings.

I opened this book by saying that everyone loves a hero. This is what I want to make this final comment on.

Sometime during 1970, while stationed at Lowry AFB, our squadron was ordered to attend in mass, what is commonly referred to as "Commander’s Call." In an auditorium setting, the base commander discussed with us some of his concerns, such as safety and things like that. They then showed us an Air Force movie about a tremendous earthquake that had recently devastated large portions of Alaska. The film was specifically about how the United States Air Force used its enormous resources to come to the rescue immediately following this earthquake.

Like the rest of the airmen in that auditorium, when we were told about the unexpected movie we were about to watch, the topic of the movie definitely seemed more interesting than the usual pep talks that we normally received at these Commander Calls. And if we didn’t like the movie, seeing how the lights would be out, nobody would notice if we closed our eyes for a short nap. We were not the most patriotic group of young men, despite our uniforms.

Anyhow, the movie started and right away I became interested in the story. Although it only lasted for about thirty minutes, I remember how this incredible emotion swept over me. And I am going to bet that you, too, have experienced what I am talking about.

I have said that everyone loves a hero. Although this is a wonderful idea, perhaps, I fear, just having this fact presented as a written sentence—that perhaps the idea I’m trying to convey is lacking in the exact meaning that I am trying to get across. I want this sentence to convey to you exactly what it means to me. This meaning is perfectly illustrated in what happened to me during that Air Force movie.

The movie itself was rather a straightforward story. First it showed how out of the blue this earthquake just demolished everything it touched, creating a living nightmare for thousands and thousands of people. Then the movie showed their desperate calls for help going out. It showed the Air Force receiving their calls. It then showed how the Air Force just dropped everything and loaded up their planes and came to the rescue.

The important thing here is that as I sat watching this drama unfold, I began to feel my chest grow swollen and my face began to flush. In a very sentimental way, I felt like crying. This is a very unique experience. And I have only felt this way a couple of times in my life—each time related to stories about various men and women "coming to the rescue."

The whole point here is that what happened to me during that Commander’s Call was not some isolated experience, that only happened to me. Just like during certain movies at the theater where just about everyone is crying (Love Story, for example, where Ryan O’neal gets up on the hospital bed to hold his wife as she dies from cancer in his arms)—in this same universal way, the tearful reaction to people "coming to the rescue" is a God given emotional response that is built into everyone’s heart.

After we got out of that Commander’s Call, I sensed that we all felt the same way. This is a VERY POWERFUL emotion that is awakened when we see people coming to the rescue. Shrila Prabhupada wanted the whole world to love Lord Krishna. As soon as you talk about loving someone, then you are involving so many things—emotional things, heart things, deep appreciation, sentimental feelings, etc. And these are all very positive events that opens one’s heart to the person that these feelings are being directed to.

When I say that everyone loves a hero, I am talking about a tremendously powerful kind of love. An attraction that rushes out of the heart and fills every inch of the body with pronounced and significant feelings.

I am simply suggesting that we tap into this and point it in the right direction. It all makes sense to me. God is the greatest hero. Everyone loves a hero. Showing the world Lord Krishna "coming to the rescue" will create a really profound change in the people who see this. Again, this is a most excellent way to fulfill Shrila Prabhupada’s heart’s desire—his mission—his dream.

Imagine for a moment that guy sitting in his big easy chair watching the evening news. On comes a story about a horrible disaster with pictures of Krishna Disaster Relief "coming to the rescue." Not only is this guy going to think, Gee, I didn’t know that the Hare Krishna people did that kind of work. That’s really nice of them—he is also going to "choke" with love towards us. In context with what I’ve just said in the above paragraphs, this illustrates the very rare moment (which it should be)—and the meaning that I am trying to present—when a persons thoughts and feelings simultaneously merge in agreement.

This is the most positive kind of affirmation that can take place. When you can get both the mind and heart to agree on something, you have truly created the kind of appreciation that will last forever.

Relief Groups Feed Thousands in North Carolina After Isabel

By Estes Thompson Associated Press Writer

Published: Sep 26, 2003

MANTEO, N.C. (AP) - Ozella Scarborough is a lifelong resident of Roanoke Island who has lived through the destruction and rebuilding of uncounted hurricanes.

Until Isabel roared through, she never needed help finding a meal after a storm. This week, with her power out and her food spoiled, the 84-year-old woman tasted her first handout from the American Red Cross - and it was pretty good.

"I had a nice meal," she said Wednesday, after eating hamburger steak, gravy, mashed potatoes and fruit cocktail delivered by one of the red and white food vans of the Red Cross.

Vans from the Red Cross and Salvation Army have prowled the back streets and countryside of eastern North Carolina since Isabel hit last week, looking for the hungry. Between the two agencies, more than 153,000 meals have been served in the week since Isabel struck.

As of Wednesday night, the Salvation Army had served more than 93,947 meals and the American Red Cross more than 60,000.

Volunteers and a few paid staffers are pleased to be sweating in mobile kitchens and driving strange roads littered with storm debris.

"You meet some of the nicest people, folks that you help and folks that you work with," said Red Cross volunteer Beryl Jones, 70, of Oklahoma City. The retired postal service employee is part of a two-person team in a 21-foot van loaded with hot meals, snacks and drinks.

The 12 Red Cross mobile units are resupplied by a 53-foot tractor-trailer van that is a complete relief kitchen, parked near the end of a runway at Manteo's airport. More than 20 Salvation Army feeding vans are supplied by a mobile kitchen based in Belhaven and operated by North Carolina Baptist Men.

"It's completely self-contained. We can pull up in an open field and not need any support," said Sandy Wallace of Gainesville, Va., the Red Cross employee in charge of the kitchen. "As long as we have the supplies, we can be cooking in a half hour. It can do 30,000 meals a day."

The Salvation Army has mobile kitchens on the southern end of Hatteras Island, which was severed from the rest of the island when storm surge created a new inlet. The rest of its feeding stations are farther inland in Dare and Hyde counties.

The three agencies worked together to make sure their serving areas don't overlap.

Before the storm hit, agency officials held a conference call to discuss where they would go and "agreed that we would not be engaged in any turf competition," Salvation Army spokesman John Edwards said. "It's not about us."

Power has been restored to many Outer Banks locations and stores, and some restaurants have reopened. But other areas may wait weeks for electricity - as of Thursday, more than 17,000 customers in the east still were in the dark.

"I believe the people really need the food," Wallace said. "The power is on in the key places, but not where people live."