Eastertide
May 5, 2021
Scripture Reading: Psalm 98
O sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gained him victory.
The Lord has made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God. Psalm 98:1-3
The 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado was a large and exceptionally powerful F5 tornado in which the highest wind speeds ever measured globally were recorded at 301 ± 20 miles per hour (484 ± 32 km/h) by a Doppler on Wheels (DOW) radar*.
Living in Oklahoma for the bulk of my life, I am well acquainted with tornadoes. When I was a child, there were few reliable early warning systems. My dad would stand on the porch with eyes on the sky and his ear to the weather forecaster who was doing the best he or she could alert us about coming danger. Dad would at times turn to my mother and say, “Get the kids. We had better go to the cellar.” We were whisked away, often in the pouring rain and high winds, and huddle together in our cellar. Our hearing was our only measure of and all clear. Most nights, we would climb up the steps into gentle rain or a sky full of stars and the moon. That memory probably came to my mind because the anniversary of the May 3 Bridge Creek-Moore tornado has been all over the news. Thank God we do have better warning systems now. Even so, 36 people were killed in that tornado, and over 500 more were injured. Damage estimates exceeded a billion dollars.
Life during the COVID pandemic has been somewhat like huddling together in that cellar only with masks and no social distancing. Glimmers of hope that we are reaching herd immunity soon make me think we will climb those steps and appreciate a beautifying world again. First, we must all do our part to get vaccinated and follow healthy practices until we get an all-clear. Second, we must teach what we learned through this experience and make the changes needed to ensure that such a pandemic never catches us off guard and unprepared again. We also must recognize the worth of every person in our society—from medical staff to janitors, researchers to cashiers as we work toward a world where everyone has enough to meet their basic needs, including quality, accessible, and affordable health care.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your presence with us through the storms of life. Continue to guide us as we seek more and better ways to care for all your children. Amen.
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Bridge_Creek%E2%80%93Moore_tornado
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.