Feel good, just for a moment

  Most of us cannot conceive what has happened in and to Japan. Though we may have never been there, we know Japan. 
  But not like this. 
  What has happened to Japan has affected many people; the pictures and video are unrelentingly grim, sad, bewildering, apocalyptic. 
  One can only stand the grief for a few minutes, and then the images must be turned off. We must turn away and seek relief, grateful for our homes and our jobs and our loved ones.
  We can do nothing but donate a little money, pray and hope for these patient people who stand in line waiting 5 hours for a drink of water, who do not steal others' possessions and who dig through the rubble, hoping to find a loved one. 
  Alive is beyond the hope. 
  A body would help bring closure, some sense of finality, an awareness of how it ended. 
  We talk at work, we carefully look for images, we see again the black malevolent water rushing its boundaries, swallowing and pushing everything aside, tossing large boats like toys and depositing them whimsically on top of houses, as some evil monster from an old Japanese horror film would do.
  And we cannot but wonder how we would react in such times. We shudder and hope we never know.
  There's a story in the WSJ today, about two dogs who somehow survived. Tied in the back yard, their owners rushed away to save their own lives, presuming the animals would die. Yet somehow the dogs, just puppies, really, broke free of their tethers and made it fantastically to the second floor of the house they knew as home.
  And there they lived until their owners came home to find them.
  So long I have lived here, the man said, and I never imagined I would see it like this.
  Here is part of the story; it is offered with the hope that you smile when you read it, though it is, of course, tinged with sadness. WSJ:

  Ms. Kikuchi, her face still red with excitement, said she was so happy to see the dogs, a bit of good news in an otherwise tragic event. "When my father told me they were alive, I was so excited," she said. "It's been so stressful. It's so good to see them"

Mr. Kikuchi and his daughter said they will come back every day to look after the dogs, but they are not going to bring the dogs to the shelter.

"There are lots of people dead and it's too much to ask to bring the dogs," said Mr. Kikuchi. "It would be inconsiderate to other people's sadness."

  We take what we can in times like these, trying not to remember Katrina, wondering how a merciful God could allow it to happen.
  In seeking comfort, which we do as we watch and pray and as those people who live in Japan surely are, one might remember these words from the book of Job. Job suffered many trials and humiliations, temptations allowed by God. 
  From Job 38, verses 4-11:

4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,9 when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,10 and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

  For some reason, God allowed those waters to pass their limits. They came, and farther than they ever had before in recent memory.

  No platitude will suffice.

  Simply prayers.

  Prayers and a few coins.

  And a smile that two puppies somehow defied the waves and the odds to live another day. 

  Best wishes, Kikuchis, that you may be happy in your home again one day with your dear pups by your sides.