Earthquake

A massive earthquake hit the Port Au Prince area of Haiti yesterday. It measured about 7.1 on the Richter scale. While not quite as strong as the Landers quake which shook southern California in 1992, and my wife Mary Ellen lived through, it was still a very strong earthquake, and caused a tremendous amount of damage.

Having experienced and survived several temblors myself, they are one of the scariest natural events we can experience. They usually hit without warning, and can cause buildings to topple, tidal waves to rush inland for miles, make huge fissures and faults to appear in the ground, and generally wreak havoc all in a matter of seconds.

Every time I see how God has blessed our country with such a wide variety of terrains and rivers, I am just awed at how lucky we are to live here. I mean, having grown up in southern California, and lived on or near the San Andreas Fault for many years, I guess I'm lucky to never have experienced any major earthquake damage, personally. Sure, we had some pictures fall, and cracks appear in drywall and concrete, but that was about it for me. I can hardly imagine living where your entire city has been decimated like just happened in Haiti.

I'm also thankful that we live in America, because since we are so blessed, we are able to help others. Our country is almost always the first to lend a hand, sending food, medicine, and people to help in every way, whenever such a disaster occurs. How great is that?

I doubt that Cuba, Haiti's neighbor, will be able to send much aid. They are too busy fighting the poverty brought on by decades of tyranny under Fidel's Communism. The only countries that are equipped to, and want to help, are free, capitalist societies, that value human rights, and life.

I hope America always helps others in need, including its own citizens when disasters happen here, like during hurricanes and floods, fires and tsunamis, terrorist attacks and earthquakes, and anything else that happens unexpectedly, and causes human suffering.

As long as we the people, who make up this great nation, desire to help our fellow man, I think we can overcome anything. May God bless those in need, and may we do what we can to help, too.

-Gil