just talk about it...it's the headlines

I had written a recap of the weekend but stopped half way through. It wasn’t so inspiring anymore.

So many horrific events happened over the course of a week. It’s thorny to fathom that these circumstances occur in life and roll in swiftly like a breeze, albeit stemming from natural causes or insufferable acts. I listened to NPR for hours today trying to gain perspective from those covering the news around the globe with events such as: crisis management of epic proportions in Japan, a suicide bombing in Afghanistan and grisly slayings in Israel. They filled the radio waves with a melancholy tone. It revealed a heightened sense of urgency. It’s too much death at its core.

Japan: As the pieces from Port-au-Prince and Christchurch still weigh heavy, it’s feared that 10,000 are dead after the quake and tsunami in Japan. Bodies are washing up on shore like seaweed. Putting that into context – even words – is daunting. It can’t be underestimated that this is the worst crisis since WWII. Miyagi Prefecture plays host to a disorganized cemetery. NPR had journalists speaking live with displaced families who were stripped of everything, only sparing their lives. Specifically, I heard a report that 3,000 people have filled an elementary school where boiling water for instant noodles on an open fire and using makeshift bathrooms has become customary. Now they’re wrestling with aftershocks, uncovering scores of bodies under debris, mulling over nuclear reactor and radiation concerns and dealing with flattened infrastructure.

Afghanistan: 33 were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a device in an Afghan army recruiting center. In addition to the 33 left dead, at least 42 people were also wounded. Hearing another report on a suicide bomber has placed itself into common vernacular. It’s a sad vernacular to that end. Unrest is relentlessly prevalent as the war continues.

Israel: Friday night’s Itamar massacre completely folded me; a family of five in the West Bank settlement of Itamar were stabbed to death in the middle of the night. Three children and their parents were murdered in cold blood. There are no suspects. PM Binyamin Netanyahu dubbed it a terrorist act and is looking squarely at the PLO for answers. The Jerusalem Post has been actively following the story.

What can you make of it all? The acceptance of natural disasters is tragic because, as it goes, there's no choice. Your heart breaks for those searching for loved ones.  Dying at a recruitment center at the basement of potential democracy, or at least yearning for it? Your soul irks with the mere thought of children being killed. Is the purpose of this post to highlight the world’s tribulations? Or, does it encourage contentment with what you have and subsequently haven’t lost? I don’t know. This does not suggest a call for immediate action, either. I do know, however, that not talking about is rather lethargic and anything to the contrary is stubborn.