I recently came across an article in Newsweek entitled, “The Myth of Gracefully Growing Old.” The title says it all: it is a myth. Sooner or later, the springs will wind down, the wiring will fail, and all the tires will go flat. We hope that will be a long time in coming but who knows?
There are obvious advantages to growing old, gracefully or not. Many have the chance to see children and grandchildren picking up the mantle that we didn’t know we had dropped. We can look back on careers that have been successfully concluded. The less time spent on regrets and the more on gratitude for the road down which we have walked, the happier will be the final leg of the journey. The counterpoint is that we should not overlook the importance of today. One never knows when the end will unexpectedly come
The unbelievable disaster in Japan brings, as do all such cataclysms, a sharper focus on the here and now. For individuals the sudden death of a spouse, a life-long friend and worst of all, a child, is a reminder the heart can stop without warning and a life is ended. Take the emotions of those left behind and multiply them by millions and we may get some sense of what life in Northern Japan is like this morning.
This time last week everything was going along as normal and in virtual blink of an eye, things will never be the same for that island nation. Americans had a similar experience on 9/11. Three digits that claim no distinction of their own but placed in that order they changed our concept of the world and we will never be quite the same.
The range of reaction to such events sweeps across the breadth of human emotion. After the shock begins to dull then we start to rebuild houses and hopes, lives and dreams. One thing that is definitely right about America is our willingness to be part of that effort. I have no data to support it but I don’t believe there is another nation who can begin to approach our generosity in helping others. One can argue how much of the aid reaches those who are in desperate straits; some ends up in the pockets of profiteers, but at least we, as a nation, will try.
We remember The American Red Cross, certainly one of the great humanitarian organizations of history, slipped in public opinion when they raised more money than was needed for disaster relief and allocated it to purposes other than that for which it was donated. Certainly, that should not blunt our support for them in the current crisis. What did we expect . . . that they would send the money back rather than save it for future needs? Many organizations for relief exist. Find one that is trustworthy and use it for the Japanese.
There will be some who take a less active stance. Japan is a long way from where we live. They, unlike Haiti, have administrative and technical skills that will bring them through this. Let them do it themselves, some may say. But the world has become a much smaller place and it is difficult to look at the pictures of the devastation and not be moved by it. It could have been San Francisco and someday, it probably will be. We can hope that the rest of the world will come to help when we need it.
There is one emotion that has not surfaced yet or, at least I have not heard it. For those who believe when disaster strikes, be it personal or national, manmade or natural, it is divine retribution for some wrong. While everyone is entitled to a personal belief such a view flies in the face of any logic to which a sensible person would subscribe. We are a part of nature and are subject to natural laws. That we should be exempted from them or that they are used as punishment speaks of a world in which I would not choose to live. I would not presume to understand the Mind of the Universe, but I do not believe It to be capricious or perverse.
As John Donne famously wrote, “Send not to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” Someday that will be true. Until then we must help those who have heard the death knell and live each day as if it will be our last: One day, we will be right.
