Emotional Tsunami

If I were British I would say that I am gobsmacked.  But since I am not British I will be speechless!

I keep being drawn to the video and still photos of the utter destruction of Japan.  I can’t believe it and it did not even happen to me.

Containers

So how do you even begin to pick up the pieces when there are so many pieces?  How do you move a ferry from the top of a house?  How do you begin to pick up all the boards and garbage and still have hope in your heart that things will get better?

I watched a video that was six minutes in length.  It started as a little bit of water on the street and before you realized it a large fishing vessel was trying to make a left hand turn on the street and then the buildings began to move through the street.  It was horrific and that still doesn’t capture the total destruction.

These aren’t just cars, boats, houses and containers.  All these items belonged to someone.  Someone that will not have a place to sleep tonight, food to eat tonight, water to drink or wash his or her body.

Mothers and fathers are trying to assure their children that, “everything will be okay” when I am sure they are not sure of that at all.  But it is what we do.  We can admit to ourselves in the darkest hours of the night that we have lost hope and can’t see how everything can ever be okay again.  But with our spouses and especially with our children we reassure and smile bravely.

I have heard people that are on the side of helping Japan in their hour of need.  I have heard people say that we shouldn’t lift a finger to help them.  Remember Pearl Harbor?  Funny the same people who don’t want us to help them use the computer chips that are made in Japan.  Some drive cars that were designed and perhaps, built in Japan.  This is the same country where we dropped the atomic bomb.  Not once, but twice.  I watched Rudy Giuliani stumble over this fact as he was speaking about the nuclear plant radiation issue.

As humans we do horrific things to each other.  We do them in the name of religion, patriotism, and some just because we can.  Now is the time to help the people of Japan.  Now is the time to show what we are made of, instead of only being happy that it isn’t the United States that is recovering from this quake and tsunami or that Japan bombed us and led death marches. 

Look into the anguished faces of the Japanese people.  How can we not be touched?