My heart aches for the pain, grief and sorrow of our brothers and sisters affected by the earthquake and the tsunami. It weeps for the loss of those whose lives were wiped out in an instant, or worse, for those who struggled to survive and knew they were losing the battle.
Our earth and its people are wounded. The mind struggles to comprehend the magnitude of what has happened. In living history we have never experienced the sudden, simultaneous exit of so many souls. Never have so many found themselves homeless in an instant.
In the wake of this tragedy we have learned to pronounce the names of places we did not know existed. We have learned more about the lives, and livelihood of villagers of whom we were previously unaware.
One wonders why it takes a catastrophe of this magnitude to awaken our compassion and desire to help suffering members of our human family. We are slow to wake up. Coverage of the horror of the tsunami on CNN was interspersed with commercials in which one spouse surprised the other with a luxury car for Christmas. Did the advertisers not stop for a moment to realize the insensitivity inherent in running these ads, or did they welcome the increased numbers of viewers? How wonderful it would have been to see them replace their ads with a plea for donations, and an offer to match contributions.
We are the “haves”, and we now must take care of the earths “have nots”. We all must contribute in any way we can. We can make donations to provide food, medicine and comfort. We can also send compassionate love out to all who are grieving, injured, suffering and struggling to go on.
My hope is that out of this tragedy new compassionate global connections will be forged, that will remain and grow stronger. We can counter the devastating waves with a “tsunami of love”…a tsunami that brings balance and wholeness to our troubled earth…a healing wave…
Copyright © Gwen Randall-Young, All Rights Reserved. Contact us if you would like permission to reprint.
