Waverly – Part 2

Tornados have a randomness about them that causes particular uneasiness. Why is it over there and not over here? Might it move in this direction? Will another uninvited intruder drop down from the sky? Where is the best place to wait this out? What about the people I love?

The two adults and one child killed in Waverly were living in a trailer; while most all dwellings are vulnerable to a tornado, a trailer is especially vulnerable – it is not anchored to the earth the way a house is – the trailer can not only be moved away by a truck, it can be carried away by a tornado.

From now on when I drive through Waverly I’ll think of the tornado; I’m sure others will do the same. If someone is in the car the driver and passenger will talk about the damage and the death, if it is a lone driver he will perhaps ponder the little town with the extensive damage and loss of life. Ivan, the two-year old toddler, probably never pondered the meaning of life, let alone what he was going to do the next day, let alone what he was going to do the next hour. His mother survived, now she will ponder the “what ifs” of a day when tragedy struck.

Of course other people have died in Waverly on other days and will continue to do so, and other citizens of Waverly have gone elsewhere to die and will continue to do so. Dying is what we all do and it is usually what we all deny – we live in perpetual denial of death and save for the occasional funeral home ad on television or on a restaurant’s paper placemat, there isn’t much advertising about it. The advertising isn’t always directed toward the one who is going to die, it’s often directed to those left behind who will need comfort. When it is directed to the one who is going to die it is framed in terms of planning our funeral and prepaying for it for the benefit of our loved ones. I’ve never seen a hyper pitchman for a funeral home, I’ve never seen big neon lights on a funeral home sign shouting, “Attention, one day you will die – have you thought about it?” Even the way funeral homes are built and landscaped is such as to not draw attention, and when you do notice them with their somber institutional appearance you either want to speed up and get by them or slow down so they won’t see you and reach out and grab you.

Why is that we talk about what we’ll do on vacation, what our plans are for the Christmas holidays, or the dream vacation we’d like to take, but we don’t talk about this fact of life that we will all experience?

The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus came to deliver us who have lived in the fear of death – for Jesus conquered death and those who come to know Him share in His victory over death so that they should no longer live in fear. Paul writes that Jesus abolished death – death in its eternal form – and has brought life and immortality to light through the good news of Jesus. One day death in all its forms will be destroyed – and what a day that will be.

Yes, there is a sadness about death, and there is grief, and there can be shock and deep pain – but in Christ there is also hope and comfort and the resurrection. After all, if Jesus Christ and Easter are true then they mean everything, but if they aren’t true then death is simply the end of life and we are no more than a bunch of random accidents without purpose and we are fools to think otherwise. I’ve know people who have tried to convince themselves that life has no meaning beyond the immediate, but I’ve yet to meet anyone who actually lives that way…though perhaps we’re getting close to that as a society.

The tragedy in Waverly isn’t about bunches of organic material in the form of people who are no longer with those who love them – people made in the image of God died.

Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me, though he is dead, yet will he live.”