Bound by the Same Humanity

“We are all bound by the same humanity.”
-President Obama

We are all bound by the same humanity, and it’s that bond with makes what is happening in Japan so wrenchingly painful. I go through my day doing those day things -- working, cleaning, eating, loving, laughing, sharing – and I think of the thousands and thousands of people in Japan who aren’t doing any of those things. And whose way of doing those things have been changed, possibly forever.

When disaster strikes, I cling like a cat in a tree to the words of Mr. Rogers. He said that when explaining disasters to young children, look for the people who are doing good. Look for the helpers. I’ve used his wisdom to explain disasters like Haiti to my little girl. It not only helps her, but also gives me a feeling of peace. Helps me to believe that the goodness of the world is still in place, it’s just been shaken around a bit.

Yet the hugeness of the disaster in Japan has made it really hard for me to find the good, the hope. I am left with this helpless feeling of despair.

There are people in the world who can see through the pain and destruction. This beautiful example came from Ryu Murakami writing in The New York Times. At the time of the earthquake, he was in a hotel in Tokyo. And though there is so much in doubt, so much that is in question, he is staying in Tokyo. He writes:

“… evacuation centers are facing serious shortages of food, water and medicine; there are shortages of goods and power in the Tokyo area as well. Our way of life is threatened, and the government and utility companies have not responded adequately.

But for all we’ve lost, hope is in fact one thing we Japanese have regained. The great earthquake and tsunami have robbed us of many lives and resources. But we who were so intoxicated with our own prosperity have once again planted the seed of hope. So I choose to believe.

I read that with this earthquake, the island of Japan moved eight feet. The earth looked different after this earthquake and I pray that it’s not only the landscape that has changed. I pray that we as a people have also changed, or can be changed by these events. That we, a smart industrialized nation who is also intoxicated with its own prosperity, can start to plant our own seeds of hope.

And in this new world, not only do we need to look for the good, we need to become the good. We need to be a force of hope in a world that is falling apart around us.