Many years ago, as a young girl, I remember watching some show about the prophecies of Nostradamus. I remember trembling in fear as doom and the ultimate demise of the human race was depicted in the tacky way only really bad (and by bad I mean great) 70's shows could do.
In the space of one year, we've borne witness to a number of massive earthquakes, floods and cyclones. It appears that Mother Nature is in a vengeful kind of mood and has wreaked havoc and cause more destruction in one day than any great war lord could dream of in a lifetime.
That got me thinking. For all the power that man can create and wield (nuclear weaponry, hostile take overs, the genocide of an entire race) nothing comes close the destruction that Mother nature can create in one afternoon if the mood strikes her.
Now I'm not a scientist. I'm not even a very clever person if truth be told. But if there's one thing that is clear after watching the horror unfold in real time in Japan last Friday, there are very few man made things what will withstand the fury of an earthquake followed by a tsunami.
What was riveting was to witness a slow trickle of water grow into this massive crescendo of annihilation as the water claimed almost everything in it's path. Very few buildings were spared. Tragically, the death toll will be beyond comprehension.
It's devastating to watch peoples lives change in the blink of an eye. We've become such real time junkies that I'd hazard a guess that very few of us watched in fascinated horror and actually acknowledged that apart from witnessing natures destructive power, we were also witnessing the death of someone. A stranger to us, but the entire reason for living to someone else.
I find it really hard to get my head around the fact that potentially 5000+ people may have woken up on Friday morning, never realising that this was it; their last day on earth.
What has happened to us as a race? I don't mean as Australians, Japanese, Americans etc.
I mean as humans. At what point did we lose the way and decide that killing anyone who didn't share our core values and beliefs was wrong and needed to conform? Who decided that the only way to solve problems was to fight? When has violence and war ever solved anything? When did money, power and greed replace decency, equality and justice?
Some time ago, a video was doing the rounds, showing returning soldiers greeting their families back home. It's very heartwarming and moving. But it only told one side of the story.
Every warring party will believe they are in the right. Regardless of the reasons they go to war, soldiers swear allegiance to whatever flag they fight for. They leave behind their families, not really knowing if they will ever see them again. The risks faced by both sides is the same. Some make it back, others do not.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the teary reunions depicted in that video has been played out in every home in ever corner of the world since time began... regardless of what side the soldiers were on.
I guess the point I'm trying to make, and I fear I'm making it badly, is that at the end of the day we are all the same. We are made different by geography and the places we are born. We are made different by our faith and the languages that we speak. But fundamentally we are all still the same. Cut us and we bleed. Hurt us and we feel pain. We all love. We all have the capacity to hate. We all think we are right and everyone else is wrong.
But none of us will ever best Mother Nature. No matter how hard we try. That was made very clear last week. She can give life and also take it away.
Something to think about.
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