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These are some photos I took on my rural visits.
The images and news reports about the Haiti catastrophe are so heart wrenching. Such death and devastation has swept across the poorest nation of the Western Hemisphere.
Tons of aid is being sent for the desperate victims but it is not reaching them they are saying on the news channels. Maybe its taking too long. Its hard to move fast enough in a calamity of such magnitude.
Watching BBC World , I could only whisper '"Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy". I could not even form a proper prayer.
I used to read a blog of a missionary in Haiti. I am worried about her. I have lost her URL , but will search for her web page.
I experienced an earthquake in the Himalayas in 1991. It really shook me up an I was affected by it for days, although the damage in our area was minor compared to what others went through. But I can 't erase the memory of it from my mind - specially the eerie sound of the quake, like a mighty waterfall - and then dead silence and blackout. Doors and cupboards flew open and things fell out even on top of me as I woken from a deep early morning sleep.
I am an aftershock person. I am generally quite calm and collected during a crisis but its full impact hits me after several hours and I end up in a pool of melted wax. PTSD is what I suffer from at times.
One is likely to question God in the midst of disaster. A havoc wreaking God?
I have come to a realization that God 's absolute sovereignty,power and control can be seen in all forms of nature.
In Psalm 139 the writer addresses God;
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
(Today 's New International Version Bible)
God 's awesomeness can be seen in both darkness and light.
The special and the mundane
Pain and joy.
I heard this story.
A man went to a monastery and demanded the Abbot to show him God. The Abbot was a very sagacious man. "I will show you God", he answered . He took the visitor to a corner and pointed out a grungy old monk and said,"Here is God".
The man laughed in unbelief and said,"Are you crazy. This is a grungy old man.This is not God".
The wise Abbot replied,"The Bible says that God made man in His own image. However much that image may be distorted you can still see Him
in what He has created. If you can 't see God in a grungy old monk , you will not be able to see God at all.".
___________________
Today is another cold and foggy day. temperature is in the low 50s and 40s (12*C) . We are just bundled up in woolens.
11 Fertilize my soul:
I know, Amrita, those poor Haitians are having a terrible time -- I heard that the piers were ruined in the quake, and the airport is clogged up and too small of runways for the giant cargo planes to land -- I think the mighty nations will have to treat it as they would an amphibious assault and get the medicines and foods in that way. There is no time to lose.
I can't imagine the terror the Haitians feel from those aftershocks. I would like to see all who wish to leave and recuperate taken in by the nations of the world. They can return if their PTSD will let them.
Dear Amrita,
Psalm 139 is the Psalm in which I live. I mean in and not by.
May the Lord have mercy on the souls in Haiti.
I saw on TV today that the American president are sending 6000 soldiers to the island.
I'm not sure why.
From Felisol
Hi Lady
I hope that peace comes up to you and just grabs your heart and gives it a squeeze.
I, too, am an "aftershock person," Amrita. I can be calm at the time, but then it bounces around in my head forever.
I pray you are able to stay safe & warm. :)
Really terrible conditions and scary for the residents...we live with earthquakes here almost daily, most unfelt and minor.....always have the big one in the back of your mind though......the military was sent to oversea food distribution, and to help out..there has been looting of the distribution centers..these kind of emergencies tend to bring out the best and worst in people...
It isn't always easy to understand God's ways. But we can accept His wisdom in these awful events. How many turned to Him in the instant of the quake? How many children, saved by the work of Jesus, has he gathered in? How many hearts have been warned, or moved with compassion? He knows.
Hi Amrita dear sister, this is certainly a tragedy, so upsetting. My aunty Rolande who is a believer, asked me if God has forgotten us altogether, and I tried to reassure her..I hope that the louting will be stopped! I join you in your prayers. Blessings
Amrita, you are truly inspired when you write such moving posts. We must all pray hard for the people of Haiti and their safety. I know the aid is en route but it must be so frustrating to not be able to get it to them quicker. God bless you!
They say it is possible 100,000 have died in the quake. Natural catastrophes such as earthquakes, fires and floods are part of the earth's upheavals and my own feeling has always been that it is wise to prepare for death at any time for nobody knows the hour they will depart from this earth or the reason. The earth goes on a rampage sometimes like a murderous heart, but how people respond, with compassion and help, shows the presence of God even in the worst calamity.
dear amrita..i hope that you don't mind but i put your post over at pilgrim pals...i know that it takes you a while to sign out and in to the site and so i thought i would do it. this is such an excellent post....your prayer, "lord have mercy..lord have mercy" short like peter's prayer, "lord save me!"
short for sure but reaching immediately into the ever open ear of god..
god bless you amrita..love terry
Such terrible death and destruction are not really imaginable for me, like you I can only say 'Lord have mercy' too.
death toll is thought now to be 200,000, so many people.
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