Haiti

I'm in awe over how unemotionally I'm affected when I look at pictures of the recent earthquake in Haiti. Several years ago, I built shelters in Pakistan following an earthquake which killed tens of thousands. I saw the broken buildings. I saw the broken people. I've also been around other horrific situations. In Iraq, I was within earshot of British soldiers using their machine guns to kill radicals who had taken over a local government building. Another time, I felt the walls in my Iraqi home shaken as 80 were killed in car bombs within minutes of each other. Many of you have also witnessed horrific events. For example, a number of you watched TV and saw the Twin Towers fall in New York. A few of you might have even been there. These sorts of events are very non-movie-like in their appearance and do register horrible feelings.

Still, for some reason, Haiti just doesn't register emotionally. I feel like maybe a combination of distance from these attrocities plus the repetitive viewing of fictional destruction in movies has really de-sensitized me. No shame. I'm just acknowleding it. I also don't feel like something is wrong with me because I know that if I were in the middle of a live situation that it would affect me emotionally, despite the fictional destruction I've been inundated with in the movies. I know this because I have been on the edge of horrific events and it has affected me in a horrible way. When it's happening live, there is no background music, there is no slow motion heroics, and often there is no last minute saving or rescuing. There is only an awful combination of silence, crying, and sirens--laced with adrenaline.

Pray for Haiti. As the adrenaline wears off and especially following the initial relief efforts over the next couple months, they move into a multitude of variations involving: shock, denial, acceptance, boredom, sadness, sickness, grief, and misery.

I suppose we could even give to Haiti. We can contribute financially even if we are unemotionally affected. There's nothing wrong with that. A dollar-given is a dollar-earned.