On May 3rd, I had all sorts of problems. Lately I have been battling what my friend Seth calls 'a deep, blue, funk'. Now you must realize that I have a great life. Good job, nice house, 2 great kids and a smokin' hot wife (Talledega Nights) and every other thing a person could ever want. But it hasn't mattered much in the last few weeks. I don't know if it's because I'm turning 38 (which is certainly mid-life for me based on my love of bacon), I am going on my 10th year with Union Pacific Railroad and my kids are growing up too fast. I just have let all the 'problems' of the days bug me. I'm fighting the IRS, I don't like how my job keeps changing, I can't seem to get my debts paid down quick enough, if there are 10 decisions to make, it seems I make at least 8 bad ones. (I think that's 80% , but it's been awhile since I did math) I told my wife the other night that I really thought I was heading for a nervous breakdown. She had sympathy for me and tried again to remind me of how good things are. She was right, but I just didn't get it; I'm a bit slow on the uptake.
The next night, the evening of May4th, we had watched some TV and decided to go to bed. I was set to get called out for a train at 6:00am so I knew I needed some sleep. Konnie decided to turn on the local news and just see what was happening. At first I really didn't understand all that was going on. The broadcasters seemed a little discombobulated and I could tell they were a bit stunned by something but were doing their best to maintain that robotic candance that they are all so well trained in. Then I heard three words that shook me from my near sleep: Greensburg, Tornado, Devastation. 'Are they talking about Greensburg, KS?', I foolishly thought. Of course they were. What other Greensburg do I know? The numbers started coming in.... 60% destroyed, 70% destroyed, 100% damage. I called my friend Seth whose mom and dad still live in Greensburg; the town he grew up in and we all spent many, many days in during our time at Friends Bible College/Barclay College located in Haviland. He hadn't heard from anyone yet regarding their condition and since he doesn't have cable I was trying to let him know where the damage was located. We did this for some time and eventually he did get word that his dad was Ok, but still nothing yet on his mom, who lived on the other side of town where we knew there was massive damage. We said we would speak again later and hung up.
As night turned to day, the images of what had happened started coming in. I almost lost my breath as they showed a 'fly-over' of Greensburg. It was gone.... just simply gone. As if someone had hit the button and launched a nuclear weapon on this town of 1,800, it was just simply left in ruins. Of course I couldn't help but think of the horror that the folks in Greensburg had just gone through. I thought of Seth's family and friends. I thought of the engineer I work with that lives in Greensburg. I thought of the countless times spent in that town. I just couldn't wrap my head around this level of tragedy that had hit so close to home. Earlier in the evening/morning I heard from my friend Brandon Thompson. Brandon had been living on the 'Thompson Farm' just about 2 years ago when a fire struck the house of his grandmother that he and his family had lived in. The farm is located in different spots just north of Haviland and Brandon gave me the news that 'it's all gone. It's completely wiped out'. I couldn't believe it. How much should one family go through?
Later in the morning we did hear that Seth's mom and her husband were ok and we were grateful. My dad called me and wanted to know if I would like to go to Haviland to just visit, help, comfort people; whatever we could do. I said yes and called in and took a sick day. I wasn't prepared for what I saw.
As we arrived out at the Thompson Farm, you could see from a mile off that something horrible had happened. The tree row had just been shaved off. Approaching the first stop on the farm, where Brandon's brother's family lived, you could see that it was more than just the trees that had been hit hard. Where there used to be a house, there was now only a concrete foundation. Where there used to be barns, there was now just rubble. Where there used to be combines there was now nothing; they still haven't found the combines. Amazingly several animals had survived and you could almost see it in their eyes: 'what was that all about?' It was devastation on a level I've never seen and I went to Louisiana after hurricane Andrew and still I lost my breath looking around. Our next stop was up the road a ways to Brandon's mom and dad's home. Again, it was just overwhelming to see what man took years to build, a tornado destroyed in seconds. Not only were the buildings a wreck, but the looks in the eyes of the Thompson family was almost as hard to see. They were in shock, and full of sadness. But give up? I think not.... they were too busy cleaning, rounding up cattle and mending fences. That's what people in this part of the world do.
On the way home that night, dad and I stopped in at Seth's to visit with Ron. We heard his story of what happened; of just how fast it was over; of just how completely devastated his town was. But we also heard a story that must be told. It's not the story of lost lives and broken buildings. It's not the story of 'why me?' and 'what now?'. It's the story of neighbors; neighbors helping neighbors. Ron said that after the storm took his house, he went up from the basement and saw the destruction around him. After being thankful to be alive he said he then thought, 'I better go check on my neighbor'. Ron did that. Ron said that to a man and woman that was the theme of the Greensburg tornado on the night of May 4th. It wasn't chaos. It wasn't looting. It wasn't 'where's the government?'. It was a simple yet profound thought, 'how's my neighbor'. That's the state I live in, that's the kind of people I know. People that have just lost everything didn't waste a minute taking in their own damage. The first priority is in helping their neighbor. We had heard from the Thompson's of how the Barclay College students had all come out to the farm to help dig through the tragedy and help find clothes that could be washed. We heard of how people from all over the state descended on Greensburg to offer help to their neighbors. There were tears, there is shock and there was a mountain of horror laying in ruins. But the greater presence was 'love thy neighbor'.
Didn't Jesus say just that?
Luke 10:26-28
26He answered, "What's written in God's Law? How do you interpret it?"
27He said, "That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself."
28"Good answer!" said Jesus. "Do it and you'll live."
One of the the most important questions that Jesus thought you could ask was and still is, 'How's my neighbor?'. The story of the Greensburg tornado that destroyed a Kansas town, several farms and many lives isn't just the power of destruction and chaos that a tornado brings. The story is found in the power of faith, hope and love. Faith that you'll make it through the storm. Hope that you'll one day rebuild and Love for those around you and for life itself. I'm proud and humbled by my fellow Kansans. In some ways I am ashamed because on May 3rd I had a lot of problems. On May 5th, I saw what real problems are and I saw a community and a people face those problems with courage and love. I'll never forget what I saw. But more than that I'll never forget what I heard: 'How's my neighbor?'.
Here are some photos I took of the Thompson Family Farm. http://www.kstarheel.com/tornado.html
Again, I think the song 'God is my Rock' has to be heard in a time like this.
