On Sunday, five years ago…

…an F5 tornado blew Joplin, Mo., to thunder. It destroyed a third of the town, debarked the trees, and left people staring at piles of rubbles-that-used-to-be-homes. In the aftermath I started reading local writer Carolyn Trout’s work. Here’s her latest, on the anniversary: Today we mark the fifth anniversary of the Joplin tornado.  It is …

S*@# Christians say

Or, more genteelly, 10 Cliches Christians Should Avoid by Christian Piatt. I checked, and I’ve said precisely two of these cliches, and one of them, back when I was knocking doors for Jesus in Joplin, Mo., I said quite a lot. I regretted it at the time because where someone was going to spend eternity …

Joplin. Oh, HAIL, yes.

(Hey! That’s Northpark Mall, also home of the Joplin Eagles! Thanks, Jane, for the video.) I hail from the Joplin area, the site of the worst tornado imaginable on May 22, 2011. A third of the town was blown to thunder. The death toll heads north of 150.  Trees were stripped bare. Schools were destroyed …