Making Sense of Earthquakes, Seaquakes and Tsunamis
From the concept of God to the impossibility of the existence of a benevolent God due to the existence of evil has been with us from the age of Epicurus, the philosopher. Christian apologists such as C. S. Lewis have attempted to account for natural disasters by showing how they draw people together, or how they provide moral instruction to the survivors, or how they turn our eyes to God. A fresh way of looking at the problem of natural evil and suffering comes from Rare Earth, a 2003 book by Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee that traces the myriad conditions required for life to exist on any planet. These experts discuss the “anthropic principle,” which specifies the degree to which our planet appears fine-tuned for complex life. Why do natural disasters such as earthquakes, seaquakes, and tsunamis occur? All three are the consequence of plate tectonics, the giant plates that move under the surface of the earth and the ocean floor. Apparently our planet is unique in having plate tectonics. Ward and Brownlee show that without this geological feature, there would be no large mountain ranges or continents. While natural disasters occasionally wreak havoc, our planet needs plate tectonics to produce the biodiversity that enables complex life to flourish on earth. Our planet requires oxygen and a warming sun and water in order for us to live here, and we appreciate this, even though we recognize that people can get sunstroke and drown in the ocean. So, plate tectonics are, a “central requirement for life” as we know it. This recognition will not stop people from bemoaning the next earthquake, but it should at least stop us from blithely assuming that the Creator could have done a much better job. But we as humans do have a ‘responsibility’ towards God’s creation too, as we are entrusted with the task of, ‘tilling the earth and keeping it.’ Gen.
From seeing the sense in a compassionate and yet mysterious God and this ‘wonderful world’ to living our Christian and religious lives can be as daunting as listening to a soul stirring sermon to shaking hands with an incorrigible character in our family. The faith-infused tremor of our lives must be coupled with tenacity of our calling and directed by the magnetic pointer of our charism. One way to achieve this to get away from the mentality of functioning as an administrator with duties of reorganization, keeping records, controlling persons, promoting initiatives etc to animating the soul of the organization, displaying the core values like the spokes of a wheel. The mission (to be holy by walking with the young/another Christ) becomes the hub. Core values are the spokes of the organization’s wheel, and its mission is the hub. Strategic vision is the direction in which we want our wheel to be heading. This requires an honest look in the mirror at what our family/congregation/church/organization is doing when no one is watching. On a daily basis, we need to check and re-check to make sure our strategic vision is not only producing our desired strategic objectives, but also living our mission and values. This will ensure us live meaningful lives even in the face of earthquakes, seaquakes, and tsunamis, making sense of plate tectonics of Christian/religious life. ‘Year of Priesthood’ ‘Discerning God’s will’ ‘ Salesian Holiness’ are our ways to measure the quality of the ‘tenor of our whole life’(C 3) for ‘by carrying out … mission we find our own way to holiness.’ (C2). Our heartfelt congratulations to our sisters as they celebrate the silver jubilee of their arrival in Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda and we pray for God’s blessings on the tremendous strides they have made to incarnate the salesian charism in these countries.
