The Georgia  Bar Center in downtown Atlanta was previously the Federal Reserve Bank building.  A great stone edifice with bulletproof glass windows, it is built like a fortress.  It even has a currently unused shooting range in the basement which in the old days armored car guards and Secret Service used for practice.

When a tornado ripped through downtown Atlanta last week, severely damaging buildings for blocks around it, the Bar Center was undamaged. It stood like a rock. While the Omni Hotel and CNN Center a block away lost a lot of glass, the Bar Center’s bulletproof windows didn’t even have a scratch. While the tornado knocked holes in other roofs and a few buildings collapsed, the Bar Center had no immediately visible damage.

There is a metaphor in there somewhere. As our late pastor used to say, "that’ll preach."  I’m reminded of the song I learned as a preschooler in Sunday School about the wise man who built his house upon the rock and the foolish man who built his house upon the sand.  But let’s not stretch this too far.