The "big one" just hit Japan a week or two ago, and the shock of that terrible circumstance is still unfolding. The nuclear crisis is still looming and the death count continues to mount.
So I was surprised at my own reaction to the earthquake I experienced here...
It was just a 6.0 seismic event, but I was in my bed on the 21st floor of a 35 story highrise, feeling the entire building beginning to bounce up and down in a quickening rhythm.
I quickly realized my helplessness in the situation, and my instant reaction was to smile, seeing the humor in being so completely and utterly helpless. If my time had come, there would be absolutely nothing I could do about it.
I had the same reaction once in a much more significant earthquake in Seattle. That one struck when I was working in a very cluttered basement, it was quite violent and seemed to just go on and on. A large 4-story house was bouncing violently on it's foundation, literally just inches above my head. I felt so helpless I had to laugh. I knew that if my time had come, there wouldn't be much room to argue about it.
In both of these instances, it just wasn't my time.
My heart goes out to Japan and to all of the people living in a surreal circumstance, where the fickle finger of fate gave no warning and had no mercy.
Why things happen the way they do will always be an unknowable mystery. And every day of life is a precious gift.
