Force Majeure

After yesterday's post which may seem swaggering and overconfident, or not, nature waved a threatening finger with severe storms coming from the west. We were not especially affected, other than with pelting rain, lightning dancing and flickering from the ground up all around, a crack that sounded like it was right on top of the house. However, it was a little anxious, to paraphrase Piglet, not just being a very small animal, but because this old house is a falling down house and may not withstand high winds. The worry may not be so much part of it falling on us inhabitants but upon our neighbors to the north. It could be a big disaster. I decided to stay where I was, which may have been foolish, given that tornadoes had formed elsewhere and that the rain was so forceful evidently that radar had difficulty tracking the path. West of us towns were hit, buildings ripped, a school with the roof torn off, a truck overturned, many injured, some died. Maybe not on the level of Joplin but that would be small comfort to the victims. I have friends and colleagues in the middle and western part of the state (interestingly, communities which are largely ignored by the media except in situations like these) and I am concerned for them.

On one level, I didn't think the storms would amount to much, that it was unlikely that tornadoes would form in our area. I can say that I believe I will be taken care of no matter what happens. I don't what the present feeling would be in the face of catastrophe. Shock has not been a stranger to me, it has come in the form of life changes, bad news, accidents, but probably nothing on the scale that others experienced last night and are waking up to this morning. Truly from any broad perspective I have lived a sheltered life, probably have no business even commenting on this subject. Did many of us feel these feelings with the news of Japan, Mississippi, Louisiana, Joplin? Yes. So what will I do today? Pray for those who are suffering and not add to others' suffering or my own.