Modern media beep us on our mobile phones and email us the breaking headline news. We used to just hear it on the radio or watch it on the television. Everywhere in the world we read about one or more disasters somewhere else. Earthquakes occur: Families lose their homes and loved ones
Volcanoes erupt: Lives are loss
Seas rise: tsunami drowns thousands
Bombs blast: Dozens or more die
Mines collapse: Individuals are trapped
Mudslides rush: Residences are covered
Whenever this happens, people are the same everywhere -- they feel despair, anger, fear and frustration. Displaced and ruined, individuals wait for help.
Like any country, in the US citizens are upset with FEMA, the organization that provides assistance and conducts assessment when help isn’t arriving as quickly as it should.
Often when disaster strikes many victims learn of losses and find they aren’t insured. Others grow impatient with the government response.
Every person has one thing in common -- all need help and hope.
In Turkey, disaster response is provided by the government and local authorities through the Disaster Coordination Centers (Afet Ko-ordinasyon Merkezleri), by the army, by the Red Crescent (Kızılay) and by nongovernmental organizations such as AKUT (the search and rescue organization) and many others.
Sometimes people are lucky, or is it luck? In some parts of the world it is considered to be “fate”; in other places it would be viewed as God’s providence, and to others it can be thought of as sheer luck. In Turkey you may often hear expressions such as “alın yazısı” -- writing on the forehead -- the idea that your destiny is written on your forehead: a bit like the concept behind that famous song “Que sera sera,” or “Whatever will be, will be.” When your time is up, it will be up, and there is nothing you can do to change it.
In Brownsville, Minnesota, today a 9-year-old boy named Austin Ranney had his own magic carpet. There was a flood when a river burst. Early last Sunday morning a wall of water and mud ripped their cliff-side house off its foundation and knocked it further down the street. His grandparents now refer to the queen-size mattress the youth used to slide down three flights of stairs to safety as a “magic carpet.” What a miracle!
There were only a couple of places to be in this house to be able to survive this disaster. And, thankfully, each member of the family was in a safe spot. A few meters away in a different room and they would all have been killed.
Family members believe someone was watching out for them.
The things we have and the loved ones we hold dear are what are valuable to us. A disaster helps us realize this. It does not matter that the monetary values of our belongings vary -- it is ours or it was ours, and now it is gone. We can lose a valuable house, and it seems insignificant compared with losing our health or losing a loved one.
The family in Minnesota, like people in Turkey, had basically, put everything they had into this house. Sometimes people even are in a position to purchase insurance but find later there is a clause that the particular disaster they faced is not covered. Now they’ve lost everything. But those who survive have each other.
A magic carpet, also called a flying carpet, is a legendary carpet that can be used to transport persons who are on it instantaneously or quickly to their destination. Aladdin had one, and many tourists search the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul to try to find a real magic carpet to whisk them away from their troubles to the mystic Orient.
Nine-year-old Austin Ranney has his own magic carpet: a queen-size mattress.
It whisked him away to safety.
Conflicting worldviews expose where our deepest hope lies in time of disaster. You may wear a yellow button with a smiley face on it, but for some, often smile-button optimism doesn’t quite suffice when disaster strikes. Others believe in fate. This is what they find their strength and comfort in: There was nothing that could have been done to avoid the problem. Others hope in God and find comfort in Him and His strength to face all manner of problems.
Truly the world’s greatest felt need is to have hope when all goes wrong. For all who have been victims it is important to find the door of hope.
While there is life, there is hope.
Note: Keep your questions and observations coming: I want to ensure this column is a help to you, Today’s Zaman’s readers. Email: c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com
