flu and floods

It's been quite the week in Texas with schools closing and people washing their hands in mass hysteria. OK, I'm a little cynical about this whole H1N1 not quite but may be pandemic. I wish someone would test a theory. If we reported on cases of Cancer for one week that were diagnosed AND that people actually died of. If we reported for one week on the cases of HIV/AIDS that were diagnosed and those that died. How much more striking would the statistics be? How advanced would the conversations on cures and vaccines become in just one week. I don't mean to strike unrealistic comparisons, I realize that neither Cancer nor HIV/AIDS are air-borne highly contagious diseases, but they are taking huge amounts of life away from really wonderful people in this world. Even in these cases, panic is not the answer. My brother really said it best in his post on this subject.
Panic was not the answer at my church this morning when congregants arrived to half the building (including the room that the service I coordinate worship in) closed. We combined services as fans and wet-vacs howled at the other end of the building, unbeknown to some until it was announced in church. The church is a wonderful body of people not a building. Today was just another day of proof. As we live lives in ministry that often includes building campaigns, sharing space and change may we always remember that building or not, the church is the church because of the people.