"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" - The Hollies

Good afternoon peeps...well, not so good. How sad that as we enter a new year we are faced with a tragedy of catastrophic proportions. Under these circumstances, people are prone to question God...as if God is The "Punisher." When rationality resumes, we intellectualize, analyze and realize that the forces of nature kicks in every so often, as part of the "natural order" of things. Depending on your geographic location on this planet of ours, you are going to experience the forces of nature; be it hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, flood, tsunamis, volcanoes, wildfires or mudslides. Without getting into a technical, geologic discussion which I am not qualified to do anyway, I think it is accurate to say that Haiti happens to be located in area of the earth that is atop many a fault line and shifting plates, that move periodically. The results are devastating! So, what can we do about it?

Praying will make us feel better but a more pragmatic response would be to assist in material ways. No, we cannot realistically hop on a plane and physically go to the Island of Hispaniola; the portion called Port-Au-Prince Haiti. We can however, send monetary donations to The Red Cross; a reputable organization that offers disaster relief. There is a way to text a ten dollar donation: text HAITI to 90999, and The Red Cross will acknowledge your donation.Also, check with your local Red Cross to see if donations of food, clothing and other staples are being accepted. Pack up those clothes you or your children no longer wear because you feel they are "out dated" or no longer fit. They might seem useless to you but boy would they be appreciated by the people affected by this earthquake!

Before you do anything though, make sure you deal with a legitimate relief organization! Don't act impulsively out of feelings of sorrow, empathy, or misplaced guilt! Check the video I posted on Facebook about this. What a sad way to remember the new year of 2010. It will now be forever known as the year Haiti was struck by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, that affected over three million people, and possibly killed untold thousands. As I write this piece, the totality of this disaster is not yet written!