Lessons from Earthquakes

Here we are in the middle of "Earthquake Season." With every day that goes by, we feel tremors and aftershocks. The news media is full of reports relating to past, present and future quakes. The headlines of "&this is not the big one," are very ominous. Who knows what will happen next; prayerfully, only good things from now on.

One summer while visiting Montreal, Canada, the weather suddenly changed from a hot, humid 102 degrees to a rainstorm that quickly evolved into a hailstorm. This was the first time in my life that I experienced the phenomenon of such strange weather: rain turning into large hail; ice stones into the middle of a hot summer day.

In relating the story of this hailstorm to my mother-in-law, she responded with the following Jewish proverb, "Thank G‑d people don't control the weather. If they did, then they would kill each other!" The temperature is a personal preference. I realize that some people like warm weather, and others, cold. However, nobody likes an earthquake.

With the above in mind, I know, once again, that it's the Almighty G‑d who really runs the world, for no one in his right mind can explain why some places are hit, and others are not hit. Even the insurance companies become religious as they deny payment to their customers claiming there is no coverage for damage caused by "an act of G‑d."

One of the many lessons we can get from this ongoing saga is, "WE CAN AND MUST DO GOOD!" As long as we can help one another with kindness, we must do so. We must learn who our neighbors are NOW when we are in control of things. We must find out what a family needs to make it through the day, week, month and year. Maybe there's a need for food, clothing or perhaps, for money to pay rent? There is a need for true friendship at all times.

The earthquake wakes us up from our stupor of self-aggrandizement; it shakes us up, quite literally; it makes us look around us at others. DO SOMETHING!

Our holy Bible teaches us that when catastrophic things happen around us, we must look into our own hearts, examine our conduct and correct what flaws we may find.

As the earthquake season quickly comes to an end, we will take the message of caring to heart: reach out and get involved with helping one another, "Love your neighbor as yourself," is not only during the earthquake season.