Words fail to convey the emotions in Mayfield, Kentucky, after last weekend’s devastating tornado.

Let’s try anyway, directly from the mouths of those relying on their faith in the EF4 twister’s aftermath.

It’s another “theodicy” story: It would appear that God is on trial.

“My little girl asked me, ‘Why would God let this happen?’ … I had to look at my little 8-year-old girl, who looks to me for answers, and I had to say … ‘I don’t know. I don’t know.’” — the Rev. Wes Fowler, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Mayfield (via Associated Press story by Holly Meyer)

"Thanks be to God the parts of the building that came down didn’t come down on us. I realized it might be the last few moments of my life on this earth. … All I care about is the fact that the most valuable possessions in my life, my wife’s life, my children, they’re all safe. Everything else is replaceable." — the Rev. Joey Reed, lead pastor of First United Methodist Church in Mayfield (via Louisville Courier-Journal story by Christopher Kuhagen)

"As a parent, it's like there's only so much you can say or do to take the fear out of your children. The girls' room was — I say 'was' because, obviously, if you come in here and look around, there's no walls anymore; there's no ceiling. I mean, they know how much of it's in our hands and how much of it's, you know, up to the storm and up to God. ... We lost everything, but we didn't lose everything. I mean, everything that we have that is worth anything was in that closet." — Joseph Tyler, Mayfield resident who survived with his family in the closet and worships at His House, a local church (via CNN story)

“God is not in the devastation. He’s not in the destruction. He was not in the storm. But he’s in the response, and that’s where we are. That’s what we’re trying to be. We’re trying to amplify the response that is happening from the survivors and victims of the tornado.” — Susan Montalvo-Gesser, director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky (via America magazine story by Michael J. O’Loughlin)

"It's awful. It's tragic. People who have lost loved ones, there is no way to take that pain away. I think you just have to embrace the pain and pray that God will guide you as you overcome it." — the Rev. Milton West, senior minister of First Christian Church in Mayfield (via WLKY story by Marvis Herring)

See stories on the faith-based disaster relief effort by The Christian Chronicle’s Erik Tryggestad, The Tennessean’s Liam Adams, Religion News Service’s Yonat Shimron, the Deseret News’ Tad Walch and Reuters’ Gabriella Borter.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. What’s your religion? In U.S., a common reply now is ‘none’: According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center, religious “nones” now constitute 29% of American adults — up from 23% in 2016 and 19% in 2011.

Luis Andres Henao, Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu and David Crary report this news for The Associated Press.

See additional coverage by the Deseret News’ Mya Jaradat, Lifeway Research’s Aaron Earls, the Wall Street Journal’s Ian Lovett and Religion News Service’s Yonat Shimron.

2. Ex-boarding school for Native children owning up to its past: Associated Press religion writer Peter Smith and photographer Emily Leshner visit Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

It’s a compelling take on the 133-year-old school reckoning – finally — with its role “as part of a network of boarding schools across North America where generations of Indigenous children were brought to weaken their bonds to tribe and family and assimilate them into the dominant white, English-speaking, Christian culture.”
CONTINUE READING: “'We Lost Everything, But We Didn't Lose Everything': Where Was God In Mayfield Tornado?” by Bobby Ross, Jr., at Religion Unplugged.