Today has been somewhat of a gloomy day overall for me. I had some ups, but mostly downs...the radio at work kept talking about the disaster in Haiti...and a buddy of mine asks me "how come only the poor people get hit by disasters? Ever hear of some rich dude getting his house wasted in a tornado?"
And I thought on this...and he had a point. You never hear of some celebrity out in California losing his house to a mudslide or an earthquake... you never hear of some rich person out this way having his house destroyed by a tornado. Yet, the people that struggle the most...the people that can't afford the nice luxury houses...they seem to be all over the place. My first thought was "well, that's how the media likes to portray it"...you know, get Jobob and his wife Bertha on there talking about how that tornado done tore up the trailer park...makes it look worse than it is sometimes...
So then I hear a report that Obama is on the air and talking about sending relief to Haiti to help out and it's very hard to do so because they've lost communication, the earthquake tore up the airport, and it's complicating matters. So Obama has authorized for The Navy to step in with some ships to get down there, as well as authorized 100 million dollars to be used to medical supplies, food, shelter, etc, and that's just the beginning. It made me angry.
We have people here living in the streets because they've lost their jobs, their homes, and now they're feeding themselves and families off scraps they dig out of the garbage...yet nothing is happening here. Do other countries come to our aid in time of need? Not that I'm aware of.
I don't like Obama too much, but I will respect and admire him for reaching out to other countries in time of need like this. But we should really work on fixing America before we fix other people...but I digress...
Back to my original thought. Disasters affecting the ones in crisis already...why is this? Why does it seem Mother Nature is picking on the poor and the weak? Where is the fairness of life? All of these people pray and pray and pray, and disaster after disaster tear them down. Yet, they keep their faith in God. Is that fair?
As I read a page with stories from people down in Haiti who are helping in the relief and recounting the things they hear and see, I read a story of this woman who was in hysteria because her son was dead in the rubble when rescue workers pulled the boy out...but she still held faith because her other son was trapped but alive...they finally freed the lad, and as they were trying to give him water, and clean him up, he died. The mother finally broke...crying and yelling "God I can't take this anymore, God I can't take this..."
I also read of a story of a house collapsing on a family, and they found a boy alive in it, his right leg broken in 2 places, his left tore up pretty bad too. The father was rescused, but his wife and all of his other children, and some friends that were there too were dead...he was thankful that at least his one son survived...then the doctor who was writing the story had to bear the news that the boy was going to have to have his leg amputated if he wanted to live...
Again I ask, where is the fairness of life? All of these people were already suffering, then this happens.
Just before I wrote this, it finally clicked. I may not be the most religious person, but I do believe in God, and my faith will not waiver. As I sat there in tears genuflecting on the stories, it came to me. The fairness is God felt that all of those people had suffered enough, and has called them home. They will suffer no longer. The fairness is in the President of the United States, although I may not like him, is putting forth an effort in giving those survivors a chance anew, in that pretty much the entire area is going to have to be rebuilt, and our men and women of the United States are there to help. Granted they have lost so much, but at least someone will be there to help pick them up, dust them off, and help them continue living.
I'm sitting here writing this, looking across at my wife, who is now in tears because she has discovered that a friend of hers from college, whom she's recentely been keeping tabs on was doing okay, and then today, Jennifer discovered that she passed away. Just sudden. We have no idea how it happened, just that one minute everything was fine and the next, her husband is writing a message about her passing. Now it's the husband and two children, left to find their way in the world without their mother.
2010 isn't starting out very great for people all across this nation. That's where we have to pull together, and make the best of what we can. I don't forsee anything getting any easier as life progresses forward, so we have got to do what we can to force it to be better.
Be strong, call on your friends and family. The next time someone pops in to your mind that you haven't spoken with or heard from in ages, try giving them a call, or sending them a message. You never know when you're going to be sitting there thinking "I wish I could have talked to him/her" before they died...
Until Next time...
Stay safe, live peaceful, be happy.
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