Of all the places in the world...

[TygrBright]

The magnitude of the horror and the disaster in Japan is almost impossible to comprehend.

But not for the Japanese.

It's happened there before.

I looked at some of the gut-wrenching images coming from northern Japan. Before and after pictures of areas hit by the tsunami, with beautiful little towns full of orderly-looking homes with colorful roofs and green gardens... and brown devastation, water, mud, debris. Pictures of the Fukushima plant with the terrible plumes of radioactive smoke in the sky. People huddled in blankets, looking dazed and stoic. Rescue workers climbing grimly through the rubble.

It may get worse... more aftershocks are sure to come. The world waiting with bated breath for the worst to (maybe... God forbid... please, no...) happen at Fukushima.

I can't imagine it. How will they cope? How much grief and horror and devastation can one people endure and still survive?

But this is Japan.

And it's not the first time.

Look at some of the historical images of the islands in the wake of WWII. The firebombed cities, the remnants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The maimed and burned survivors. Unimaginable horror. An entire economy in ruins. Hundreds of thousands of young men dead or wounded. Children orphaned, homes gone. The shock of defeat, after years of being told they were un-defeatable. Believing it.

Japan rose like a phoenix from those ashes.

The Japanese people ARE un-defeatable.

The Japanese people have reserves of courage and strength based on a culture thousands of years old. A warrior culture. Warrior cultures have their down side--but they also emphasize the spirit of cooperation, shared sacrifice, strength in adversity, determination to overcome and to achieve victory no matter what.

The Japanese people have my heartfelt sympathy and my prayers and when I know if/when/how I can personally help, they will have all in my power to give.

They also have my profound respect.

I believe that they will find a way, once again, to rise like a phoenix from these ashes.

And once again, in their rise, they will teach the rest of the world new lessons about working together, finding solutions to seemingly-insoluble problems, and learning the lessons that come from overcoming unimaginable horror by working together and never giving up.

I'm going to bed now. I don't know what further challenges will manifest before tomorrow morning.

But I know that Japan will still be there.

Nihon ha subarashii kuni desu.

respectfully,
Bright

[shireen]

1. i've been touched by the grace and dignity of the Japanese people affected by this disaster

We can all learn a lot from them.
:grouphug:

[Aristus]

2. Gomen nasai. Nihon go ga hanasa masen.

Can we get a 'patriot' smilie with a Rising Sun flag?

God be with them all...

[jtuck004]

3. I was watching a report of a woman who was swept away,

caught a tree branch, was dragged under, surfaced, found a mat (don't remember what she called it, but I have heard the term before) floating so she crawled on top, and spent a night or two out in the freezing air and snow.

She was brought into a building on the back of a rescuer, who turned and let her down so she could sit in a chair.

Damned if she didn't stand up and bow to him. Strong people.