In disaster Hope?

We all by now know what has happened in Japan. And it is just a beginning. Countless more lives are yet to be effected. And as tragic as it may be, it will have a good side effect…even if only temporarily…

We live in a world filled with strife and discontent. There is hatred and cruelty, brought on sometimes by the silliest of things. Yet despite our differences, we all have one fundamental thing in common, and it is the only one that really matters. We are all human. It is an interesting phenomenon that whenever a natural disaster happens, all of a sudden everyone feels for the victims. Disagreements based on religion, philosophy, politics, race … any of a numerous list of surface causes for strife … suddenly disappear. For a moment at least, our true selves come to the surface, and we feel sorrow for the injured and dead; we feel the fear of what is yet to be; we feel powerless to help yet have the strong desire to do just that. And for that moment we are all one and of common purpose. Sadly for some it is just for the moment though.

Some believe that humanity will never truly grow as a cohesive whole unless faced with a common threat. It is a common theme in entertainment. Alien invasion. Worldwide pandemic. End of the earth. Fanciful perhaps, but in my mind it has the essence of truth. We have actually seen ample proof  of the concept that common purpose brings strength and unity, if on a smaller scale. One just needs to view recent history. So maybe if it happens on a worldwide scale we will become one step closer to becoming … simply human.

I put it to you that you are not powerless. Any more than I am. We all can help. Somehow. Maybe it is a simple as donating some money. Some may need to do more (myself for example). Many now are committing to prayer or well wish days. And while I firmly believe in the power of positive thought; wether because we incite some benevolent all powerful being to work on our behave or simply the power of common thought matters not; but action is still needed. I have prayed for them, now I can move on with my life is not enough. We all need to DO something!

“What can I do?” you (and admittedly I also) ask.

As I said it can be as simple as donating to an helping organization. But there are all sorts of things that can be done. Just be creative. For example. Many of us are on Facebook, or some similar social networking site. I currently have 354 friends on my friends list. Granted they are not all really “friends”, but they are on my list nonetheless. Let’s say I convinced everyone on my friends list to donate just 1 dollar to a help organization. I have just raised 354 dollars. Now let’s say I also convinced them to do the same for their whole friends list. Imagine they each have 100 friends. And the each also donate a dollar. We are now talking on the order of 30,000 dollars. And if each of these friends did the same…well I need not go further. It is not such a farfetched idea, and even if only some participate it still could grow exponentially. And only will cost a dollar and some time.

Will I attempt this? I don’t know. I am just illustrating that we each have the power to help. With more than just well wishes. And if we can come together like this for just a moment and truly effect change, what prevents us from making that moment into a lifetime?

My offering these words is MY first step to DOING something. If I can convince even one person to take action of some sort, then I have done a good deed. And this is by all means just one step for me. Maybe one person at a time we can come closer to a unified world.

Here is a link that could maybe help one get started. A simple Google search found this: http://www.google.com/tsunami_relief.html