Earthquake in Japan: A Lesson in Human Connectivity

I, like many of you, woke this morning to hear of the tragedy that has occurred in Japan. I woke at about 2am, as I do from time to time, and logged onto my computer. I don’t normally do that, other than to check my Facebook and see what kind of response I got from my previous evening’s exploits, or to check my email to get an idea of what my workday is going to be like. This morning I clicked on Google randomly and was bombarded with footage, and articles about Japan’s recent plight. Seeing this, I was immediately moved by the imagery of swaying buildings, and people fleeing their homes and office buildings to take what refuge they could find in the open streets. I watched, in disbelief, at the raw power of this natural disaster as it quakes this island nation, sending tsunamis towards the continental United States, Hawaii and many other surrounding nations. Most of all, I saw these fellow human beings clutching their loved ones tightly; staring in disbelief at an invisible predator that was savagely attacking the planet.
I don’t watch the news much, but it seemed the more I watched this footage, the more I craved. I wanted to understand what was happening. I wanted to try to live it as closely as I could. This was a strange reaction for me, as I never really enjoy seeing suffering in any form, and even less, that of my fellow man, and I rarely spend time dwelling on the disasters that occur naturally in this world. It has always seemed to me that things happen for a reason, and that we, as a human race, will pick up the pieces and move on as best we can. This time was different. It seemed to me that this was a call, from a not-so-far-away neighbor, to action.
Even as I write this I realize how sensational this all sounds. I promise I have a point, and I will get to it shortly.
So, I lay there in bed with my laptop on my chest, and I watch, and my soul begins to stir, and I think to myself: “Surely there is something that I can do.” As sure as I think this, here comes the negativity. “What can you do? You are too far away to do anything! They don’t need you, they need professionals!” I could not lie in bed any longer. I got up and moved to the living room and turned on the television. Again I was bombarded with footage and the frantic descriptions given by eye witnesses…and then some weather reports… Really?! This is happening right now! People are dying right now, and you give me weather reports?! I turned off the T.V.
Beside myself, I thought it better that I go back to bed and get some rest. Surely there would be more information later, and opportunities to donate, and benefits that I could encourage, but as I laid there in my bed in the cold dark, I could not shake the impression that it was no mistake that I had awakened when I did. It seemed, to me, so certain that there was a call to action being cast into the sky like a smoke signal. What was the action?
I got back up and decided that I would check my Facebook to see if this information had made its way to my community, and there, in the cold dark, with only the light of my laptop’s screen, I saw, in black and white, what I should have known was the action being called for.
Status after status I saw: “Prayers for Japan,” or, “Sending Japan all my love,” or, “Sending all my positive energy to Japan” or, “May God have Japan in His hands.” It was obvious what the action was, and yet, it seemed too simple. The call to action was love.
I have been a proponent of all humans being connected for quite a while. I do believe that we share a common spark that ignites from within and blossoms into the miraculous and palpable notion that is the human condition. I have worked with the principle, and seen it transform my life into a life of wonder and true joy, but I always felt that belief in solidarity save a few enlightened people that I have been blessed to meet in my travels. Yet there it was, in black and white. Whether or not we know it, we, as human beings do truly, and fundamentally, believe, that we are connected. If not, then why bother with “sending love,” or “praying for the wounded?” Why care from a distance, when there is nothing that we can physically do? I’ll tell you why. No matter what our faith is, no matter what background we come from, no matter our relationship to the party in question, we know, maybe simply on an instinctual level, that we, the guardians of this earth, the offspring of our forefathers, the sons and daughters of generations before, are, and always will be, connected.