With storms and tornadoes coming through every few days, we live knowing more fully that we could lose everything, even our lives, in the blink of an eye. One man said the tornado that destroyed his family's home descended so suddenly that, though they heard it, they had no time to hide. They lost everything but a few bare outside walls and their lives. And they are grateful. Incredibly grateful.
In The Life You Save May Be Your Own, Mrs. Crater mocks the monks of old for sleeping in their coffins. She says they aren't as advanced as we are. O'Connor obviously believes the monks were on to something: a visceral knowledge of death might keep us all a little kinder, a little straighter.
These tornadoes might just remind us, however much we try to ignore the fact, that brick and mortar don't last forever, and nothing is more powerful on earth than wind or water. Look at the greatest destruction throughout history: wind or water almost every time.
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