Rooftop Revelation: Watch Out for This Hymn

Pastor Corey Brooks, founder of Project Hood, points to “white hegemony” as a key factor in the media’s intense focus on the devastating Camp Mystic flood.

The Guadalupe River in Texas surged more than 20 feet in just a couple of hours, inundating areas in central Texas. It was heartbreaking to see images of those affected: camp vans, directors, families, Walmart employees. The sheer might of the flood serves as a reminder of human frailty in the presence of God.

I didn’t know the girls from Camp Mystic, but I can picture them as similar to the spirited girls from my summer camp back in Chicago. They’re so full of life—curious, mischievous, forever pushing boundaries. They were with Christ, and I think many others who passed have that connection too, whether they were with family or off to work while the world slept.

This tragedy has brought back memories of an old hymn, “When Peace Like a River.” The first lines resonate deeply:

A river-like peace attends my path

When sadness like the sea rolls

Whatever my lot, you taught me to say

It is well, it is well with my soul.

The imagery of rivers and seas evokes a sense of power that’s beyond us. For Christians, this peace comes from being with Jesus. Watching the Survivor Girls from Mystic Camp on their bus, singing religious hymns, I felt that peace in their voices, as if they shared a divine comfort.

Satan should have his fun, but challenges will arise

This guarantee of control,

That Christ, seeing my helplessness

And shedding His own blood for my soul.

The sacrifice of Christ offers hope and strength in the face of earthly tragedies like this flood. Hearing those words sung brings me back to the notion that, regardless of life or death, there is peace.

As a pastor, I’ve witnessed many deaths, and people often ask, “Why?” It’s crucial how we live our lives; it all matters deeply.

You don’t have to search hard to find examples of people lacking goodness in their lives. A Houston resident named Sad Perkins expressed frustrations about racism and white hegemony on TikTok, suggesting that if the victims had been from different backgrounds, the reactions would differ.

Another TikTok post by pediatrician Dr. Christina B. Propst took a political angle, illustrating the divisiveness surrounding this tragedy. Reading these comments was disheartening, leading me back to that hymn.

My sin, oh, bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part, but the whole

Nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more

Praise the Lord, praise the