We have been watching with disbelief and sadness the reports about a massive earthquake and the subsequent tsunami in Japan. At the time I write the estimate is that more than a thousand people have died, but thousands more are missing. Many nations including Canada have pledged support and offered condolences.
As someone born at the end of the decade following WW2 I can remember when the anger at Japan, a fierce and often cruel enemy was freely expressed. References to Japs and Nips were made without reservation. Now, seventy years after the attack on Pearl Harbour, we are able to see the people of Japan as human beings and part of the global family who need our support.
What is it about human nature which leads us to regard each other with hatred and suspicion, only to make peace once again? One decade's "evil empire" becomes the next decade"s ally. As I have looked at the pictures and footage of human misery in Japan it brings to mind images we have seen of bewildered survivors of the atomic explosions which brought WW2 to an end.
I should mention that the United Church has staff in Japan as part of our faith partnerships and all of them are safe. The UCC is accepting donations which will be used to assist those church partners who have been affected.
Any thoughts on the devastation we are seeing? What about our propensity for destructive nationalism? What do you hope Canada will do in response to the quake?
3 comments:
Nothing man can make will ever compare to the power of God.
Don't get me wrong. I don't think God is tyring to prove a point, just that there is a plan already in place, and we (the human race) don't exactly know what it is.
It will be interesting to see how Japan's tragedy will be interpreted by some Christians of the Pat Robertson bent ...
Since the two of you responded a pro athlete in the States tweeted her thought that this may be God's payback for Pearl Harbour. How discouraging.
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