Jolted. Kindness. Love.

One Without a Path

no footsteps, no matter

there is nowhere, not even death,

where my love will not follow

-Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer-

Rosemerry has become one of my favorite poets. She has been writing a poem a day since 2006 and posts them on her blog “A Hundred Falling Veils.” Click here to read recent posts and to sign up to receive her daily poem via email.

The poem above is her most recent post. I had already begun a post about the letters J, K, and L for my ”A-Z Gratitude List” with a focus on the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. I had chosen JOLTED. KINDNESS. LOVE. Her poem is a fitting companion.

This is a horrifying and monumental tragedy. Can you imagine being jolted awake by the shaking and quaking? Some victims maybe had a few moments of fear before the falling debris ended their lives. Others may have suffered for hours. Others may have never woken at all. Jolted. Literally. Buildings crumbling. Families suffering unimaginable loss. In an instant.

This recent BBC news report gives a heart-wrenching update:

I watch and hear news reports from thousands of miles away, safe and secure in my home. There has not been an earthquake of this magnitude in this area of the world for 100 years. Not only is there devastation, there is cold weather, lack of heavy equipment, lack of coordinated rescue and clean up efforts. In Syria, the area hit by the earthquake is the same area that has known civil war strife for years.

Considering such loss and destruction jolts me with sadness. Yet, I sit here safe and secure. It is an odd mix of feelings and not ones I can say I feel grateful to have. Yet, the jolt reminds me of what matters most. And the jolt asks me what I can do? I will have an opportunity to contribute resources to helping agencies through a drive that my school is having. I can offer prayers and compassion to the victims and the people working so hard to help them in so many ways big and small.

Kindness. Love. I can offer these in the ways I can to the suffering people in Turkey and Syria, thousands of miles away. It doesn’t feel like much. And yet, it is. It is something. Last time I checked, something is better than nothing.

And I can bring as much kindness and love as I can to my own day today, to the people and situations I encounter in it.

I return to the poem that started this post. It reads differently now.