Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Tides of Life

I have always loved the ocean. As a boy in Hawaii, I think the Pacific ocean knew my name and called me. After all, that is where I was baptized. While I served my mission in Haiti, the hardest "rule" that we had to follow was that we couldn't go swimming. Here I was in a paradise with the Caribbean just feet away at times and we were supposed to look away. Well, needless to say, I failed that rule a few times (after all, we did baptize in the ocean there too).

One thing that I have noticed about the ocean is the tide. It is quite powerful and serves an amazing purpose. I think we have tides in our lives. At times, the tide is low and we feel it. But, it is only a matter of time when things start to change. Sometimes the change is in ways that we expect, but at other times, it changes in a way that we would have not likely imagined.

Last week, the tide in Haiti changed dramatically. I've been in a few earthquakes including a few large ones having lived in Southern California for 20 years. It is part of life. But, earthquakes are rather startling events because one moment you're at point X and the next at point AAADVDE. I've heard that the Haitian quake lasted about 24 seconds. In that time frame, thousands of lives were lost, buildings destroyed and millions of lives changed. The tide of life changed.

Watching the news after such an event is an odd experience. It seems like disasters go in these somewhat predictable patterns. There is the disaster that is at first heard about, but then the extent starts to be revealed. Then the shock of the event is felt. Then the response begins. From there, a thousand stories about the response are made. Some are good, most are critical with a lot of finger pointing. Most of the stories that come out of disasters focus on the negative, but there are some uplifting moments. For most of us on the sideline, we observe, lament, wonder, hope, and feel. We know that there is little that we can do, but we try. We pray, we hope, we give, we watch and we read. Personally, most disasters for me are frustrating because I feel like I want to be there. I want to dive in and rescue. Its the lifeguard in me (which I never was). Haiti, is so frustrating because I really believe in the heart of the people. The everyday person there (and probably everywhere) is a good, caring soul. They need hope. In Haiti, there is little hope, but perhaps, as the tide starts to ebb its way back, something amazing can happen. It will take miracles, but miracles happen. Like the ocean tide. A little miracle that we take for granted.

Here is to a miracle for Haiti and for Liken. It needs miracles too.

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