subject: Have you ever been in an earthquake? Escaped from an earthquake? [print this page] Have you ever been in an earthquake? Escaped from an earthquake?
The chandeliers rattle. The floor moves under you. Your body rocks to the uncontrollable solemn rhythm of the quake. The once solid walls around you sway to and fro - and sometimes eventually crumble. If you are outside in open air, you watch as the ground ebb and flow like waves along the seashore. You fear the angry earth might just open wide and swallow you up as the quake keeps howling like a hungry wolf on the hunt.
On September 19, 1985, while in Mexico City, I was bending my head over the bathroom sink when I noticed that my head had begun to sway involuntarily. I thought something was terribly wrong with me and immediately started to chart a course of curative action. Just then, I heard the chandeliers shaking. I looked up and saw the walls moving violently. Earthquake! It was the beginning of more than 90 seconds of shaking that truly mirrored an eternity of fear and confusion hell! (More on my experience in the Book Stop Whining, Start Praising)
People yelled, ran, cried out for their loved ones, started to pray, stared in shock or did all of the above in any order.
Trying to regain control, some people became airborne by jumping up and down like they were playing skip rope. If fear were a cake, you wouldn't just offer a slice, you would be too happy to get rid of it all, yet you would find no takers.
When the ground, your firm foundation, moves from under you, what's next? What do you do? Experiencing an earthquake is a truly disconcerting feeling.
After an earthquake, the big bad wolf just doesn't go away. It returns in aftershocks that do not scare the fear and confusion out of you for want of a better expression but truly replay and intensify your calamity.
History records that in a June 7, 1692 earthquake in Port Royal, Jamaica, a Frenchman named Lewis Galdy, was swallowed up by the earth only to be spewed out into in the sea later, alive! Many did not share his good fortune.
Imagine an earthquake, plus a tsunami of mighty waves that roll into your town, powerfully lassoing and trafficking your child, spouse, neighbor, pet and others - cherished valuables - into its own unknown territory, forever no hope of seeing than again ever. And if you didn't suffer the same fate, you could do nothing but watch helplessly.
And, the aftermath could be yet another unparalleled challenge.
When the earth, in your part, has lost its harmony or the choir is singing, but for some unforeseen reason, all the voices (S.A.T.B) are in discord, devote attention and consideration is required.
Pray for the people of Japan. Start Praising and praying for harmony on earth.
