Tornados, Training, and the Difference that Prayer Makes

... And then the first storm cell made it's presence felt, and we headed into the strong-hold, just like in the movie Thunderheart. And trust me, hearts were thundering in the pantry at this point.

We didn't have time to grab our rosaries, but after years of training, we didn't need them. And that is the point of this post. In the Marines, we trained constantly in peace-time and during war-time. Training is non-stop; "it ain't training, unless it's raining." And when we were in the pantry, the prayer training we had been practicing all these years, paid off. Did our prayers stop the storm? Stop tornadoes from ripping our house apart? I don't know. Many who prayed lost their homes and businesses in Alabama.

No. The praying did what nothing else can do. It provided comfort and courage during the worst storms we have ever lived through. ...

Frank at Why I Am Catholic ... go read it all.