Sacrilege Sunday

Obama and Graham, 4.25.10

She swore, in faith 'twas strange,
'twas passing strange ;
'Twas pitiful. 'twas wondrous pitiful
--Othello, Shakespeare

Your eyes will see strange sights
and your mind imagine confusing things
--Proverbs 23:33

But baby, I am not your deceiver
or your eloquent liar
Your jealous heart is tearing us apart,
turning love to ashes
--Walking Through the Fire,
Mary Chapin Carpenter
________________

Forgive me, but the AP coverage of Saturday's deadly tornadoes in the Southeast is rhetorically fascinating, if only for the head alone -- "Saviors as tornado hit: A table, a wall, a freezer" -- for surely turning inanimate objects into saviors is akin to Jesus's turning the water into wine.

Ron Sullivan, owner of Sullivan's Crossroads Grocery, said, "I was levitated and flew 15 feet over there to the back wall." Levitation is a supernatural activity. Only "Some jars of pickled eggs and pigs' feet" survived -- what can one make of such wondrous happenings?

Gov. Haley Barbour said the twister wreaked "utter obliteration"; I can't imagine another kind, can you? Meteorologist Jered Allen in Jackson, Mississippi, referred to the enormity of the storm, thereby imparting a malevolent nature to the beast.

Dale Thrasher, 60, survived under the communion table at Hillcrest Baptist Church. Today, a member Yazoo City church was said to have found amidst the debris a hymnal opened to the song, "Till the Storm Passes By." Not to be outdone, at the Hillcrest Baptist church, "about three dozen members stood in a circle and sang 'Till the Storm Passes By'."

The report ends explaining that Hillcrest is a survivor. "They rebuilt after their building was destroyed by arson about 10 years ago.

"The Lord brought us through the fire, and brought us back bigger and better," Thrasher said. "The Lord will bring us back bigger and better this time, if we stick together."

The AP is giving us a message: We may be down, but not for the count. This, too, shall pass. Ain't no jobs, but boy howdy we're gonna call it a recovery. We're prayin' on it.

The AP also reported today that President Obama concluded his vacation with a "pilgrimage" Sunday to Billy Graham's mountainside home in Montreat, N.C.

"Billy Graham's son Franklin said. 'When the president got ready to leave, the president prayed for my father, my father prayed for him.'

"Graham said his father prayed for the nation and that God would give Obama wisdom in his decisions. The president prayed to thank God for Billy Graham's life, Franklin Graham said."

I do not appreciate biblical overlays on meteorological happenings. I also did not know that U.S. presidents made pilgrimages to ministers -- did you?