Earthquake!

Not long ago at 6:15 in the morning we heard the loudest BOOM to waken us and shake the house. A few minutes later the news reported an earthquake locally that left next to nothing in its aftermath. That same time in another land there was an unbelievably powerful earthquake; one of unimaginable proportions. The equivalent population of a city died.

Tragic. Sad. Devastating.

The earthquake that defiled areas of Turkey and Syria has become a picture of trauma for the world to observe.

I teach a refugee population of university students. They represent over a dozen different regions of the world. One of the students has a Syrian homeland and another is from Turkey. Their stories are too devastating to tell.

Recently one young man gave a speech about the earthquake. He spoke of land loss, human loss, psychological, emotional and spiritual pain. One of the messages in his talk was this:

“I heard on the news that a mother gave her daughter a house and two days later it fell in the earthquake.The mother commented, ‘I did not know that I gave [my daughter] her grave.”

Hearing that on the news was salient to my student. Hearing it referenced in his speech was salient to the listeners.

We never know the full how and why of devastation of such magnitude. We are taught, however to pray for the sick, tend to the grieving, do good in every corner of tragedy where we can.

The dreadful situation reminded me of God’s faithful and constant presence even in pain, and the words of John Wesley seem appropriate as seen below.

Both bring messages of love, support, help and care.

Something everyone needs!

AMEN.