Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the massive outbreak of 148 tornadoes across the middle and eastern half of the United States. Many lives were lost. A huge amount of dollars was lost. It was a record time in which storms revealed their horrible power.
In 1974 I was the pastor of Cherry Hill Baptist Church in Beavercreek Ohio. The parsonage where I lived was in the back part of the property. I was talking to my wife on the phone when my two young children and I noticed hail falling on our front lawn. Not realizing the significance of it, we gathered samples to put in the freezer to show their mother.
Then I saw the tornado drop just beyond our church heading toward Xenia Ohio. The devastation of property and lives was monumental. I took my children over to my sister’s house so that she might watch them while I went to Xenia to see if there was a ministry that I could do. When I arrived in the city, the first thing that I noticed was at a gas station bodies were being collected. A nurse was overseeing the event. She did not know I was a Baptist minister and asked me to pray over a dead man.
As a Protestant, we don’t believe in last rites. However, I knelt by the man’s body that was covered by a blanket. It struck me that his perfectly polished shoes stuck out from under the blanket, and it appeared to me that he was well-off financially. Obviously, that made no difference when he lost his life to the whirlwind. I laid my hand on his head covered by the blanket. I did pray. Instead of praying for his soul because I knew he was already in eternity, I prayed for any loved ones or close friends that would be affected by his death.
Later I proceeded over to a school that was not damaged by the tornado. People were gathered in the gymnasium. I attempted to offer support but was interrupted by a warning that perhaps a second tornado was arriving. None came. I stayed all night with the citizens of Xenia hoping that my presence would make some difference to their suffering.
The next morning the damage was overwhelming with debris scattered everywhere. A friend of mine and a member of my church had an office in Xenia. His building was completely crushed as if a giant footprint had stepped on it. The remains were only piles of timber and other materials that once created his office. The final death toll was 32.
Needless to say, there are many lessons that can be gleaned from that fifty-year occasion of nature’s wrath. None of us know when our lives will be snuffed out. None of us know when we will lose loved ones that we perhaps took for granted. Reconciliation and apologies and forgiveness were no longer available. All was replaced by grief and mourning.
We take life so for granted. We move about our day from minute to minute and hour by hour assuming that everything will be as we expect them, as we planned for them. For the citizens of Xenia there was a stark wake-up call. We must treasure life without taking it for granted. The family and friends that we have can be gone with the path of a tornado or some other tragedy. Certainly, the most important thing is that we have our souls prepared to meet the Divine Creator and that we rely on his Holy Spirit to bring comfort and guidance for our daily routine.
Even today, the weather report says that there could be tornadoes anytime. I wonder if that could bring us a repeat of the Xenia tornado. Ours is to be assured that life is right, well lived and prepared for whatever circumstances throw on us.
Christian Writer 