In this Issue
February 2005

FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK
Disaster helps us focus on life's true priorities
By Rev. Sara Ascher

Dear Friends,

As I sit here on a cold and gray winter day, the recovery from the devastating tsunami that struck South/Southeast Asia in late December continues. The death toll has risen to over 150,000 and the damage is in the billions of dollars. There has not been a natural disaster like this in decades, one in which destruction has extended to eleven countries. It will take years for the hardest hit areas to fully recover their infrastructure and industry. For the thousands of survivors, their lives are permanently changed; livelihoods and family members lost.

In our global community we cannot, as in centuries past, only imagine the destruction and horror of such an event. Now we can see it for ourselves live and in color. In many ways this brings us together. We are moved to act and send what aid we can; we offer prayers and well wishes to those who suffer or have died.

Many of us halfway around the world, and especially those of us with no direct connection to the affected area, are horrified and dismayed by the photos and news reports of the devastation, but our lives go on as they did before the earthquake. We may stop for a moment and be thankful that it is not us or anyone we love trying to reassemble a life out of rubble. Some may pause to question the meaning of such a tragedy, as we did when the World Trade Towers fell.

Catastrophic events like this call for us to hesitate a moment before we go on to work or answer email or do homework to remember that life is fragile and impermanent. No matter your faith, times such as these demand reflection. We ask ourselves "What would I do if it were me?" "Am I ready to die if such a tragedy were to come tomorrow?" And inevitably we consider our lives and their direction.

Whether our God is one who would allow such a happening or who would cause it, we now, as in all times of trouble, seek comfort and reassurance that we are safe. Whether we believe that humanity has altered the natural order of things so dramatically that the earth is out of balance or that God has called home those souls he/she wishes or that it was simply a violent occurrence of a natural process, it matters little.

What matters is that we take this moment to be thankful: of our families and friends, our homes, our jobs and realize that often it takes much less than an enormous wall of water to lose everything. And so as we send our prayers and money to those who have lost so much halfway around the world, let us remember all those in our own small towns who struggle, who create a life out of so little, who are lost in spirit, who are hurting. May our prayers reach them as well and may we, if given the chance, reach out a hand of comfort and support.

Blessings,
Rev. Sara Ascher

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