"There are moments when you have to just walk away and cry." -Lou Angeli The devastation in Japan from the earthquake and tsunami is heart wrenching! Completely overwhelming! As if those disasters weren't enough they're now experiencing aftershocks, fires, and terrible meltdowns at nuclear power plants. The aftermath is horrendous!
The power of nature is daunting. It's swift and the force and sheer magnitude is practically unfathomable. It's humbling to view video footage of the destruction and realize how vulnerable and precarious life can be.
When tragedy unfolds it's impossible to make sense of suffering. I know during crisis people question why a loving God would allow such sad and terrible things. Personally, it affirms my faith that while I don't understand all the purposes, I trust in scriptural promises that "adversity and afflictions shall be but a small moment." (D&C 121:7) I believe there is so much that I can't understand. But what I can do is trust in His plan.
Since I couldn't bring myself to download a tragic photo I decided my blog picture would be Katsushika Hokusai's 1830 woodblock print "The Great Wave off Kanagawa." It's one of the most well known works of Japanese art and I've always liked the copy in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Looking at the print it's sobering to recognize that the Japanese people have always had to deal with havoc wreaking tsunami weather.
"...and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds." -D&C 88:90
