Farmland and crops, people’s food and livelihood… cars and houses and most sadly human lives being washed away in a matter of seconds. Watching drivers trying to out race waters moving at over 500 miles an hour is absolutely devastating.
Without seeing faces, you know there are human beings who are alive one second and then suddenly gone the next. They have no idea what is about to hit them… and those that do have nowhere to go.
That may have freaked me out more than anything. You know there are people in those houses… maybe… but for the cars that are moving, there is no doubt. Someone is alive and driving that vehicle and in a matter of seconds they will be gone.
There is black water rushing over everything… waves of debris and broken dreams. Refineries are exploding into huge balls of fire.
When does it stop? An earthquake of that magnitude is bad enough. Then a tsunami and entire villages being washed away… then flames and unconquerable fire balls… Then possible nuclear reactor leaks… This is biblical.
These are the moments when you think wrath of G-d… or knowing the innocent lives lost and the utter destruction and devastation… you question whether or not there is a G-d. The images are apocalyptic, so if G-d exists, where is he or she right now?
It’s all beyond my comprehension… all of it. Who am I to question? And if these doubts creep in after each and every natural disaster, perhaps my faith is not strong enough.
I don’t know. I truly do not know.
Over 90 aftershocks at magnitudes of 5.0 or greater… Nuclear reactors possibly spewing radiation into the air and ground… The damage from the earthquake, which is significant, is barely being discussed as this tsunami is all over the TV. The images are amongst the worst things I have ever seen… the kind of visual that will stay with me forever.
There is not the personal connection that I had as I watched the Twin Towers go down, but the feeling is the same: a numbness and near nausea… tears welling… head hazy and pounding at the same time… utter incomprehension.
Humanity is so frail… material objects and even things as stable and solid as homes and giant buildings are suddenly fleeting… meaningless in the face of nature.
Thoughts and prayers go out to all of Japan. The next few hours and days will be filled with shock and pain, anger and frustration… and then the long, slow process of trying to rebuild what can be recovered. Healing will take time and fears and paranoia will run deep. People will be on edge for a long time to come.
But human loss is forever. There is no recovery for that. We are left with only memories of what was.
Obviously nature is nature, and we have little or no control over what we get. We can do our best to prepare and protect, but it will be what it will be.
I guess the key is to take this disaster to heart… truly to heart… and live each and every day with love and peace and dignity. We cannot allow ourselves to go back to the daily grind without being changed for the better. It takes tragedies like this to recognize our own mortality, and the ephemeral nature of life.
So whatever it is that we believe in or choose to believe in, we should live each and everyday with passion and bliss. I so wish I can stick to that mantra. I’m sure as hell gonna try.
