Life and time, one in the same, are inexorable and cannot be stopped. Even for the tragedy of Haiti. As the unfathomable death toll of 150,000 climbs even higher, as the number of homeless on that devastated island surpasses a million; and as the world responds with gracious outpourings of humanitarian aid to the distraught and impoverished survivors, life creeps on. There is a Super Bowl to be played; Oscars to be awarded; a new American Idol to be crowned and how could life ensue in any other fashion? The world does not and cannot stop its daily functioning of both meaningful and trivial pursuits just because Nature has once again decided to show us who’s higher up on the cosmic organization chart.
Even so, having been spared the personal nightmare of having to deal with the after-effects of an earthquake, tsunami, tornado, wildfire or any of the other disasters that regularly assail our planet, I am constantly amazed at the attitude of those who survive and spit in the eye of Mother Nature, defiantly stating that, while they have been badly bent, they have not been broken; that while they have been stripped of all other possessions, they still retain the most important one of all: human resiliency. Although it was a disaster not created by Nature’s whim, it was this intangible attribute that allowed the Japanese to rise from the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and rebuild their nation.
The survivors of the Haitian quake will carry their grief for the rest of their lives but they will rebound, rebuild and move on. It can be no other way. Life and time, one in the same, are inexorable and cannot be stopped.
copyright February 2010 - phil cerasoli
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