The news out of Japan continues to be heart-wrenching, the level of human suffering and destruction beyond comprehension. If we're honest part of this is the cold realization that life is fragile, even when it appears to be secure. Japan is a wealthy country and earthquake-savvy. Yet a shrug of the planet's tectonic plates has led to mayhem. Advanced Japanese technology gives us the film footage which tells us how limited our abilities are.
Here is the strange thing. This event also reminds us that we are residents of a dynamic, living planet. Our continents continue to shift as they have for billions of years. The main island of Japan moved two and a half metres, or eight feet, as a result of this quake. Friday was microseconds shorter, and Earth wobbled on its axis. While we tend to measure everything of meaning in human terms, there are processes beyond our control and much larger than we can imagine. In worship yesterday we affirmed our belief in a God who created and is creating. I wondered as we said these words if this destructive event is also part of this creative process.
So we respond with practical compassion and prayer to the plight of the Japanese people. And we are humbled by the power of geological events which are remarkable in scope.
Thoughts?
Earthquakes in China, New Zealand, Japan. Massive flooding and cyclones in Australia. Mudslides in South America. I don't think I'll ever complain about snow or cold again!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it is the natural processes of the earth or our destructive habits that have caused this destruction. I will pray for Japan and the many people who have been affected by these "natural" disasters.
ReplyDeleteMy response was the same on the morning you wrote this johnny. As we headed out early to the gym I managed not to grumble, aware of the goodness of my life.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many things we humans are doing wrong on the planet Deb, but I think this disaster is one of those realities of geological mysteries over which we have no control.
Don't you wonder though if our success at procreation makes us increasingly vulnerable to disasters as our numbers increase and we choose to live in high risk areas?