Trees, pastures and homes of childhood friends whisked by as the trusted Jeep and I were bound for morning errands. News on the radio flashed from the unimaginable devastation in the Philippines and the tragic loss of life there to the petty chaos erupting in a Toronto town council meeting over a drug using and defensive Mayor to then a congressional hearing that in effect provides a grandstand for political showmanship. The news anchor moved from one to the other as though each was as significant as the other. I was taken by the cavalier way in which loss of life was weighted equally to self indulgent egomaniacal posturing by political pundits. A swift poke at the power button on the radio left me with my thoughts and road noise as welcomed companions. The tears and sobs of the man who had lost his wife and two children as he held tightly to his one remaining daughter and shouted “how could this happen?” echoed as I arrived at my first destination. The answer to the man’s question is easily answered with meteorological facts that explain the formation and execution of major storms. The question the man was asking, however, was more personal than the meteorological response. His question was about his personal loss, the lost lives of his wife and children; why them, why me, why now? Although the previous response gives reasons for nature’s climatic forces, it is not sufficient to address the human element of grief and loss of that which we so routinely take for granted. Exacerbating the loss of life for many is the additional loss of home, food, and water for drinking. Those of us who have not been directly impacted by nature’s fury this time may feel “called” to aid those desperate for relief. May you act on your call and under gird that act and all others with prayers for peaceful hearts and relief from grief and sorrow.
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