What a lucky and abundant country I live in. This thought occured to me at 7am as I got off of work. As I started off for my 1 hour drive home, I turned on the radio. In short order there was a report about the happenings in Japan. I can't begin to imagine what the Japanese people are living through. Their world is destroyed beyond belief. Rubble. Mayhem. Disorder on a scale that I can't understand. If you've never known hardship you might have a natural difficulty identifying with what is going on there. I have to really think hard about Japan if I want to have a tiny chance of understanding their troubles, because my hardships are small compared to theirs right now. It's true that the trouble is thousands of miles away, but I advise you to pay attention like your life depends upon it. In the future it may.
By all accounts, the Japanese are demonstrating the kind of courage and fortitude in the face of crushing odds that the world community ought to use as a model of civilized behavior. I haven't heard of any looting, tramplings, lawlessness or thuggery. I have heard of people who are all in the same boat: all of them scared, hungry, thirsty, and wondering where their yesterdays went to. Yesterday when the coast of Japan was abundant and free, the fishermen fished and the workers went to work. People ate 3 meals a day and spent time with their families. There were no 14 hour waits for gasoline or 6 hour lines at the grocery store to buy your maximum 5 item limit. Things were normal. There were problems to be sure, but none like the current ones. Suddenly, a leviathan has risen from the sea. A random and unpredictable disaster slammed Japan to it's knees. Pay attention because this essay quickly will become a teachable moment.
Hollywood makes money hand and foot off of the kind of mayhem that's happening currently in Japan. It's their bread and butter. A Hollywood meal ticket. I'm sure the directors are scrambling from their little Hollywood chairs to grab up the 1st screenplay drafts. In the near future, there will be movies and documentaries detailing the stories of ordinary Japanese performing extraordinary feats of courage. I sure hope that Hollywood is paying attention and learning something because they also live on a fault line. If one of Californias fault lines slip, causing a major disaster, I wonder if the Japanese will scramble to get California earthquake stories on paper so that they can sell the rights? I don't think so. I would't blame them if they did though. Man, that would be ironic as hell. My point is that we are all lucky to be here in a country so abundant. There are also some basic lessons that are on display with respect to Japan:
1. There's nothing glorious about destruction so be reverent and thoughtful.
2. Think about others' problems as if they were your own.
3. Don't be greedy. You're not the only one suffering.
4. Pay attention. You might be next and will need the perspective that is being offered.
5. Think about what would happen in the USA if the abundance were taken away.
The Japanese are teaching us all how to live fuller more thankful lives with their heroic actions, patience, and demonstration of what it means to be a civilized country. God bless Japan.
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