Something Beautiful After a Day of Horror

I needed something really exceptional and beautiful before diving into a post about the Oklahoma City tornado, so put aside some time and look at this video of the 2013 Earth and Sky Photo Contest. When nature turns on us it is always a bane to my soul to remind myself of how much I love her and how stunning she can truly be.

Give yourself a treat and look at these exceptional photos.

The storm that hits the US most frequently is the tornado and we have a lot of them - more than any other land mass in the world. Yesterday a big one hit just south of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and it's been devastating for the people who were caught up in it or who are dealing with the aftermath. This is only the beginning of the tornado season for us - it goes until November. I send prayers and White Light to those who are injured or who lost loved ones in this storm. The possessions - no matter how dear or how rare - can be replaced, but the people are unique and irreplaceable.

Although this picture was taken within the past day, I don't
know for sure if this was the specific tornado that hit Moore, OK.

Moore, Oklahoma, a southern suburb of Oklahoma City has been hit by tornadoes in the past - at least two prior times since the late 1990's, but this one really hurt. There is a high death toll - at least 91 confirmed dead, with at least 20 of those being children. Now, I know that in the scope of world tragedies this is not at the top, but in this country it is significant. We don't live in a war zone, we aren't experiencing extreme famine or water shortages, we don't have revolutions in our streets (at least not yet), so a death toll like this from a severe storm is of great moment to us.

I have lived in Tornado Alley for most of my life, but the National Weather
Service is expanding the borders of the alley toward the east. Driving through
the alley in the summer months we always kept the radio on local channels to
hear any weather advisories coming through and try to avoid the problem areas.

I am of the belief that every death should be mourned and remembered. Every child should be mourned by a mother, every parent should be remembered with fondness by a child, every person should be missed and remembered by someone else. I know that's an ideal - there are bad parents who abuse or torture their children. There are bad children who abuse others, or kill them, or who destroy themselves through drug use or crime. And then there are the forgotten ones - the ones who have successfully dropped out of sight and memory, living in the grey zones - under the bridges, sleeping under cardboard over grates for heat in the winters.

This tornado actually hit the bottom section, just below Oklahoma City. For those
who are unfamiliar with the US, looking at this photo and the previous one
may help you get a handle on where this happened and how it relates to other
places you may know better.

But do we, as human beings, have the right to pick-and-choose our prayers for others? Aren't these - the ones we would condemn or overlook - as deserving of our thoughts and prayers? That's the dilemma of those who "pray for others". I've carried a sacred pipe in the tradition of the Red Road for almost twenty years now. Each prayer ends with 'Mitakuye Oyasin - We Are All Related", a prayer for "All My Relations". That means everyone without exception - worldwide. So when something horrific happens, like the Oklahoma City tornado, my heart bleeds because those injured were also my parents and also my children. That is my personal meaning of faith - good or bad. Mitakuye oyasin.