The Kindness Of Tornadoes

 

There was a tornado that ripped through a small town, leaving destruction in its wake. Thousands were left homeless. Buildings lay collapsed. Cars lay toppled on their side. And trees lay fallen with their roots fully exposed.

There was a man who had lived in this town for forty years. He simply could not understand how such a thing could happen. The cruelty of the tornado was something that ate at him.

He felt that he truly needed to know. He had to understand the reason for such devastation. He had discovered that the tornado had moved on about thirty miles past his town.

In a fit of impulse, he found a car that had not been destroyed and he chased after the tornado. As he got closer to it, the sound frightened him. And the tornado’s enormous power made him afraid for his life.

But something inside of him made him push forward. As he reached close to the tornado, he stood outside of his car and with his clothes rippling and his hair thrown back by the wind, he screamed at the tornado. With all his might he asked the tornado why it was doing this.

The tornado noticed this brave man. It heard the man’s questions. And out of a sense of pity, it agreed to answer his questions.

The man said to the tornado, “Please tell me why you are doing this. You tear through towns and destroy man and property. These nice people haven’t done anything to you. Why do you destroy these people’s lives?”

The tornado said, “Sir, it is not my wish to destroy anyone’s life. I have no intention of causing havoc.”

The man said, “But look at what you have done. There is havoc everywhere. And it is all caused by you.”

The tornado turned and saw the destruction it had caused in its wake. It then turned to the man and said, “Sir, you are correct. It seems I have caused hardship and destruction. But I assure you, this is not my plan.”

The man said, “What do you mean by that?”

The tornado said, “Sir, I have been created by nature. My nature is simply to twirl and blow. Once the conditions are a certain way, I come into being and I blow and I twirl with all my might. It is not something I can stop or control. I do see the destruction I have caused and I am very saddened by it. Perhaps you can help me.”

The man said, “How can I possibly help you?”

The tornado said, “Sir, I tend to blow in certain regions of the planet, where the land is just so. I tend to occur in certain seasons, when the atmosphere is just so. As nature has not invested me with the ability to control myself, perhaps you could build your houses and your towns where the land is not so ripe for my development. Perhaps you could please stay out of my way.”

Whether it is the mind, or life, or nature, it has its own particular momentum that nature invested it with. It rolls at a certain speed. And it was not programmed to stop or to slow down.

Our problems do not arise because of the mind, or life, or nature. Our problems arise when we stand in its way.

Because we are taught to control things, we become controlled by them.

And in attempting to control such intrinsically natural things, we stand in their way. And when we stand in their way, we suffer their blows.

And when we suffer their blows, we feel that we have been assaulted. We feel that these things have Sought Us Ought.

But is it really they who have sought us out? Or is it we that have sought them out?

The nature of the mind, of life, and of nature is simply To Blow.

And our greatest wisdom lies in standing to the side and watching them blow.

For if we allow them to be as nature intended for them, perhaps we ourselves can become as nature intended for us.