Quaking of the Earth

And the world stopped.

I realised the other day I have not been keeping up this blog. In fact I realised it was actually the day the biggest earthquake for a century struck the east coast of Japan. It moved the set of islands 8 feet, 2 and a half metres, further towards Asia. Someone joked "at least this has brought Japan closer to China" and someone else said "I don't care about Japan, look at what they did to Pearl Harbour".

American or not, Japanese or not, this disaster is no easy thing to think about. I have seen natural disasters over the years, the 2005 Tsunami, the earthquakes in Haiti, in Christchurch, but never have I literally been in one. And now, I am sitting here, in my office, writing this as I should be working. But who can work with a sane mind as there are those who suffer, as there are those who are crying, as people are hurt and I have not even been assigned to "this particular project". What can I do to help if I cannot help? What can I do but sit here and cry with those who cry as Japan limps on, and on, and on, and on . . .

What can you do when the world falls apart and you are there with a needle and thread? What can you say to the man who throws the grenade into the pit and simply bares his toothless mouth in a grimacing grin? What makes you care more about the people who shout and scream than those who are nearer to you than your own soul?

The answer.... I have absolutely no idea.