take a moment.

I'm usually not surprised by what people say, but the other day someone said something to me that really made me do a double take and was pretty shocked with what I heard. This person was very concerned that a new iPhone would not come out this summer because of the "Hurricane in Japan." At first I didn't understand because of the term hurricane rather than tsunami or earthquake, but then I realized her main concern was whether or not she'd have a new phone - rather than be concerned of the massive deaths and devastation that has just impacted the entire country of Japan and other places all over the world.

I was trying to rationalize this yesterday or figure out an analogy I guess that would be a little closer to home for people and even had a hard time doing this. How closer can you get to "Tens of thousands of people are dead?" The best thing I could come up with was: What if all the population of all of Wisconsin was killed off? Would people in Illinois be mad because there was no one to give them milk or cheese instead of caring about the state of WI being wiped out?

And that got me thinking even more - is society today so self-involved and so concerned about material possessions that they are not even remotely affected by the fact that such a horrible thing has happened to the human race? Entire cities and generations of families were wiped out with the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan early this year. It will take months - even years to recover from such devastation.

If society has this sort of reaction to thousands of people dying - What will it be like in 5 even 10 years from now? What will it be like for our children? These are all things that concern me as I worry things will get even worse as the world progresses.

So I encourage all of you - next time you are out buying that new piece of technology, or at the store picking up some milk. Think about where that came from, who made it, and then take a moment to appreciate being alive and your family and friends being alive, and people in other cities and countries being alive. And when something as awful as what happened in Japan happen, take a moment to think about the people, the families, the brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, moms and dads who lost their lives and think about ways you can help them, no matter who you are, or where you're from.



Looking for ways to help? Visit these sites (to name a few) to make donations and find other ways you can help.

Redcross

World Relief

InterAction

CAG Fundraiser

Lady Gaga Japan Earthquake Relief Wristband