The last few weeks have been a time of ash and ruin, hope and desperation – and acts of remarkable caring and compassion among friends and strangers alike. 

When the wildfires first started, I asked myself and others what The Guibord Center could do to help. Tragedy was just unfolding, and it was too soon. So I picked up the phone and began checking in. Texting. Listening.

As I connected with interfaith colleagues, word came back of damage that had hit nearly every faith tradition. Beloved churches, mosques, temples, and many other sacred places had burned to the ground. A colleague called. His community was planning an interfaith prayer service at his temple. Would I help and participate? Of course. 

We were all scrambling to do whatever we could. I attended one of the few in-person events that had not been cancelled, and spotted a colleague looking lost. Her organization had decided to bow out of the meeting but someone failed to tell her. As I made room for her at our table we talked. She informed me that a beloved mosque in Altadena had just burned to the ground. The leaders and congregation were in shock, feeling isolated and bereft. 

What became clear every passing day was that the fires weren’t happening to individuals alone, they were happening to our communities, neighborhoods, and extended families of faith. There was no place in our cities – no person –  left untouched. Even in neighborhoods that remained standing, people recognized they were only a shift in the wind from ruin. 

When I called a local bishop to ask about a Muslim group meeting in their space, she laughed, saying, “Well, we already have every square inch filled with… ”  and then listed four or five different faith communities already tucked in. It’s been like that. Whoever is still standing has opened their doors. 

When the fires began my goal was to find a way to bring hope and a sense of community to our city. It has already happened – in ways far, far bigger than any organization or individual could have planned. The goodness in us has risen and reached out. Now the question becomes, “How do we keep it intact?”

Although hearts and minds are still reeling, we now know from deep within that this experience of community is far more important and lifesaving than we could have imagined. We’ve discovered that we can and will get through whatever lies ahead – by doing it together.