Wake Up, Wake Up

Occasionally the ground shakes and we wake up.

My kids love to hear the story about my experience in one of California’s earthquakes.

The end of the story goes like this:

“After that, for months, every time someone ran down the hall or a big truck drove by, shaking the house a little bit, I was ready to dive under the table.”

How long do you think that instinct lasted?

A few months.

The bigger the shake-up, the longer the effect.

But most effects fade.

So now let’s look at Haiti.

The world support of Haiti right now is nothing short of amazing.

Question 1 for your table: How many minutes or hours have you spent reading, listening, watching or talking about Haiti in the past week?

Question 2: In the past year, how many minutes or hours have you spent reading, listening, watching or talking about the fact that every day some 16,000 children under age 5 die from starvation and malnutrition. Try to wrap your mind around that (see also here and here).

That was true on 9/11, that was true when the tsunami struck Asia, that was true when the cyclone hit Burma, that was true when the earthquake hit China and that is true today.

That’s about one little kid dropping dead every five seconds in the most painful way.

Think about that.

That's a Haiti-size tragedy every couple weeks.

A totally predictable and preventable tragedy.

What will it take to wake us up from our slumber?

On the other hand, every day there are more people doing thoughtful acts of kindness.... Here is a clip about some people who clearly are not slumbering...Warning – only watch this if you are prepared to be totally inspired.



Shabbat Shalom

PS...



“I never worry about action, but only about inaction.” - Churchill