The pain of a rural town in Iowa

Two huge and cataclysmic realities descended on Parkersburg, Iowa in the past year and a half. The first was the force of an F-5 tornado which reduced nearly the whole town, which was not a small town by any means, to splinters as can be seen in the picture. Here is a link from the moment the tornado passed through...footage from a bank camera panned out on a small cozy house. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAPnbzHvIKs&NR=1

The second devastation was the random murder of perhaps the most significant and respected person in the town, a high school football coach who had an incredible legacy for motivating young men. As many as five of his players became pro. These two catastrophes have made many residents in this town search their souls deeply and seek to reaffirm their faith in a benevalent God. Today I watched a very moving segment on ESPN that showed footage of the tornado and also of the coaches funeral procession with high school football players from the state of Iowa lining the streets. In the background one could see all the new buildings that were built out of the devastated town. The best testimony among those who were interviewed spoke the words from Isaiah: God's ways are mysterious to us, they are not often as we would wish. In the end analysis, there is only glory somehow, and the reality of Parkersburg, and all other situations of pain and loss, somehow carry a sign value and the means to cause us to be awake to ultimate reality, and to grow mature.