[January 2005 journal entry]
An earthquake that measured 9.1 on the Richter scale occurred on the ocean floor off the north corner of Indonesia 26 December 2004, sending a devastating tidal wave throughout the Indian Ocean region. Victims and damage resulted as far away as 3000 miles to the African coast. As of 4 January 2005, the death toll had reached 155,000+, with several million others missing, injured, and/or dislocated. Such carnage and destruction are beyond measure. I feel helpless, stunned. We sent a $300 contribution to Doctors without Borders to support that organization’s relief efforts. I find the ‘God’ language I have heard/read within the ‘religious’ sphere re the earthquake – on the theological spectrum from fundamentalist/evangelical across to liberal – predictable and disturbing. How can a thinking/reflective person say what a college football player said about his game ending interception the night after the December 26 Indonesia disaster – “God put me in a position to make the interception”? The fundamentalist/evangelical insistence that “God has a reason for all things” has resulted in offensive attempts to extrapolate meaning from the earthquake tragedy. I was disappointed in an Episcopal priest’s homily I heard on January 2 in which the priest told the hearers they have “more solid theological footing” if/when they shift their attention from the earthquake itself to “Where is God now”, suggesting that ‘God’ is present in the humanitarian responses and avoiding the seemingly obvious point that the earthquake was an overwhelming ‘now’ when it erupted. I wanted to stand and ask firmly, “Where was your ‘God’ then?” The Episcopal priest also encouraged his hearers to ponder the beautiful moments/“miracles” in life, with the reassurance that these “experiences of grace” will offset or outweigh the disturbing experiences in life. The flaw is twofold – (1) in the instruction not to ponder ‘face to face’ the disturbing experiences in life and (2) in promoting this grossly inaccurate estimate re the proportion of ‘beautiful’ experiences to ‘tragic/grim’ experiences in reference to the incalculable suffering/misery from the December 26 earthquake and tsunami.