[Originally posted 5/7/2007]
The town of Greensburg, KS is no more, a victim of a massive tornado. God's awesome creation seems so wonderful when we behold its beauty but oh so tragic when we suffer the intense loss in the face of such power. Some estimates indicated wind speeds as high as 205MPH in what appears to have been a max force F5 tornado.
This one hit close to home for me. Greensburg is only about 70 miles from where I was born and raised in Kansas. Growing up, tornadoes were a way of life. Each summer the threat of tornado-producing storms came and went. At school we often had drills of going to the cellar. A few times I recall tornadoes passing overhead as we huddled in a shelter.
Our deepest sympathies go out to those who lost their loved ones, their homes, their possessions, their jobs, or any of the many things we take for granted. How we wish God's awesome creation would only bring peace and quiet and good things to us. But that's not the message of Christianity. God made a creation where life comes from death. His own Son actually became part of creation and participated in the life, death, and the glorious resurrection. That theme is displayed throughout creation, whether we like it or not. The specter of death and destruction is vividly rampant in Greensburg. But hope is not gone. God in his power will use it in ways we do not yet know to bring life from death.