Tsunami Woes
It is so disheartening to post in the last few days because of the tsunami. More so when I realized that that a fellow alumnus and a student from the high school I came from perished in the tragedy.
Back when we were taking up world history, you read about the Middle Ages and the tens of thousands of deaths in the aftermath of the Black Plague, I wondered how one single event can cause so much grief and misery. And one thinks it is all the more improbable in this day and age with all the advances in climatology and science in general. And then, this tsunami happens and one could not believe the magnitude of the tragedy. Since then, doubts have risen regarding the modern advances and their utility to mankind and of course, the existence of God and why He allows suffering to happen.
I am no theologian and I think both sides of the coin can argue about the goodness or the indifference of God. From a scientific viewpoint, the tsunami can be easily explained. You take away God from the equation and you know that the tsunami was caused by the shifts between several tectonic plates. But that it is not the question we proverbially ask ourselves. God had to be blamed somehow and his wisdom had to be questioned one way or the other.
I do not know why God allowed the tsunami to occur. I am not even sure that nature had to ask God's permission for this to happen. What I have seen however subsequent to the tragedy is the universal goodness of man which is his divine spark and manifested by the great flow of aid to the victims. It is quite ironic that the great deluge of human compassion and charity would have to be preceded by devasting waves of raging waters.
If one still doubts the wisdom of God, doubt no longer. If there was anything that was settled by the aftermath, it is that no man is an island, that there are no borders where aid is concerned, that man is universally good, that all things work for the good even in the face of agony and despair.
In this century where certain ethnic races are distrusted, where certain nations are despised for their arrogance, where certain leaders are criticized for being imperialist, all these are of no consequence when the whole world rallied around the victims of the tsunami. Race, creed, wealth and power has never been more subsumed than ever than in this time of great need.
We can never bring the dead back but perhaps, the people who died in this great tragedy perished for a noble cause. That is, their deaths brought the whole world together and showed that in the face of political and sectarian differences, we are all one and we can be one. And therefore, let their deaths be not washed in vain. Let their deaths cleanse the soul of this world of all iniquity and evil with the confidence that we can live in peace, in harmony and with charity for all.
May they be welcomed by God in heaven!
Back when we were taking up world history, you read about the Middle Ages and the tens of thousands of deaths in the aftermath of the Black Plague, I wondered how one single event can cause so much grief and misery. And one thinks it is all the more improbable in this day and age with all the advances in climatology and science in general. And then, this tsunami happens and one could not believe the magnitude of the tragedy. Since then, doubts have risen regarding the modern advances and their utility to mankind and of course, the existence of God and why He allows suffering to happen.
I am no theologian and I think both sides of the coin can argue about the goodness or the indifference of God. From a scientific viewpoint, the tsunami can be easily explained. You take away God from the equation and you know that the tsunami was caused by the shifts between several tectonic plates. But that it is not the question we proverbially ask ourselves. God had to be blamed somehow and his wisdom had to be questioned one way or the other.
I do not know why God allowed the tsunami to occur. I am not even sure that nature had to ask God's permission for this to happen. What I have seen however subsequent to the tragedy is the universal goodness of man which is his divine spark and manifested by the great flow of aid to the victims. It is quite ironic that the great deluge of human compassion and charity would have to be preceded by devasting waves of raging waters.
If one still doubts the wisdom of God, doubt no longer. If there was anything that was settled by the aftermath, it is that no man is an island, that there are no borders where aid is concerned, that man is universally good, that all things work for the good even in the face of agony and despair.
In this century where certain ethnic races are distrusted, where certain nations are despised for their arrogance, where certain leaders are criticized for being imperialist, all these are of no consequence when the whole world rallied around the victims of the tsunami. Race, creed, wealth and power has never been more subsumed than ever than in this time of great need.
We can never bring the dead back but perhaps, the people who died in this great tragedy perished for a noble cause. That is, their deaths brought the whole world together and showed that in the face of political and sectarian differences, we are all one and we can be one. And therefore, let their deaths be not washed in vain. Let their deaths cleanse the soul of this world of all iniquity and evil with the confidence that we can live in peace, in harmony and with charity for all.
May they be welcomed by God in heaven!
posted by Edwin Lacierda | 9:27 PM
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