Disturbing stories of suffering in Japan and our own anxieties about hazards from damaged nuclear reactors have focused our prayers for more than a week. The death of a beloved daughter of friends has broken my heart open further.
Hundreds of thousands of people who survived the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan remain emotionally traumatized by these tragic events.
This catastrophe, like similar events in New Zealand and Haiti, offers us a unique opportunity to reach out to our fellow human beings to offer solace.
We are inviting individuals and congregations to echo the opening words of the United Church's Creed "We are not alone," and to post prayers and messages of comfort and solidarity for our Japanese sisters and brothers living in Japan and in Canada.
This was posted on the United Church website today and I thought I would share it here as well. It's a pogniant article by former Moderator Peter Short, updated in response to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Re-membering is about putting pieces together. There are many pieces yet to be put together in Haiti since last January’s earthquake. Much of what we will hear in this week’s news, about all that remains broken, will be deeply discouraging. And there will be truth in those reports. Too little of what we will hear is encouraging. Yet the truth is that good work is being done to put the pieces of Haitian society together.
This afternoon I arrived in Toronto following a five-day visit to our church partners in Haiti. What I witnessed there is beyond anything I could have imagined—unbelievable destruction and suffering on the one hand, and amazing hope and faith-filled action on the other.
This is the first of several reports we will make about our visit. (More in a moment about who travelled with me.) You can see my video message from Haiti on YouTube.
