After rising from his basement in Bremen, Ky., the place he had sheltered throughout a twister, Jordan Baize noticed that the roof of his home had blown away, doorways had come off their hinges and shattered glass and insulation had been scattered in every single place.
His Yamaha piano, nonetheless, was nonetheless intact. Under an overcast sky the subsequent morning, Mr. Baize sat alone in his front room and began to play a tune that had been caught in his head for days.
Whitney Brown, Mr. Baize’s sister, stated she heard her brother taking part in on Saturday whereas she was in his bed room packing garments into containers. As she began recording Mr. Baize, she acknowledged the tune as a Christian worship tune, “There’s Something About That Name,” and recalled the phrases:
“Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there’s something about that name,” a reference to Jesus Christ.
She stated these lyrics appeared apt for the state of affairs. Her brother’s home, his “kingdom,” had been destroyed, however his hope had not been, she stated.
“It was healing, just to know that he was still clinging on to the hope of Jesus,” stated Ms. Brown, 32, a therapeutic massage therapist and doula and an proprietor of a noticed mill.
At least 88 people were killed as tornadoes tore by means of Kentucky, Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee on Friday. Twelve folks had been killed in Bremen.
Mr. Baize, 34, stated he had not realized that his sister was recording him however was heartened by the response after she posted the video on Facebook.
“In these times, whether folks all around the world have suffered a tornado this past weekend or not, we all are facing storms of some kind,” stated Mr. Baize, an accountant and guide. “That little bit of peace and perspective that I was dealing with, in what I thought was a personal, private moment, I think has spoken to people across the world.”
Mr. Baize stated that he rushed into the basement along with his two kids, his ex-wife and her husband, they usually huddled underneath a mattress simply earlier than the twister was anticipated on Friday evening. Three or 4 minutes later, it did, he stated. It lasted about 30 seconds.
After the storm handed, he and his kids spent the evening at his dad and mom’ home close by. When he returned to the home the subsequent morning, he took inventory of the wreckage: particles in every single place, 5 or 6 inches of rain in what was left of the home, and broken bushes that three generations of his household had grown up climbing. He turned to the piano, which was coated with water.
“I thought I might just see what shape the piano is in,” he recalled pondering. “If it’s in awful, terrible shape, I can at least play once more.” He began taking part in and felt a sense of peace.
Gloria Gaither wrote the lyrics to “There’s Something About That Name,” and her husband, Bill Gaither, composed the music. She stated she was overwhelmed after seeing the video clip of the tune they wrote a long time in the past.
“A song appears in somebody’s life when they need it, evidently,” she stated, “in circumstances we never could have dreamed.”
