When Global Hope Seems Out Of Sight: We Fight

Just taking a look at the headlines this week can send a fella into a news coma. Just when you start to wrap your head around the devastation in Japan, you read about Libya or Yemen. Then you look at national news and peek at the happenings in your own backyard. It can be numbing, but hang in there. We, as a community, have always been here for each other. We have rebuilt families and homes in the aftermath of  hurricanes and tornadoes, embraced Haiti and doused fires. Just as our own neighborhoods need us, the world needs our thoughts.

I once knew a man who thought the world was on its own. He told me that we should only worry about our own problems and let the others fend for themselves. I have never been able to digest this belief. The devastation, crime and downfall of other countries leave ripples of destruction in our backyards. Some of the effects are felt instantaneously, as in gas prices. Other effects take days, months and years. Some effects are not tangible and dig deep into our psyche.

The ramifications of the Tsunami in Japan continue to bring death and destruction. Currently, Japan is battling with restoring power to its nuclear plant. They have been fighting against radiation and now are forced to embrace more rains with forceful winds. The continuing issues from the Tsunami  stretch across the waters, another reason why keeping them in our thoughts is looking in our own backyard. In an article on www.news.google.com this becomes even more obvious.

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, which monitors radiation globally, said Friday that minute amounts of radiation from Fukushima had reached the West Coast of the United States, but only at barely detectable levels that were insignificant to health.

I know when we are struggling locally with a slow job market, unstable housing market and overall poor finance conditions for many, it's hard to wrap our brains around anything but our own issues. But please keep Japan and others in your thoughts today as we move forward as a community, a state, a country and a world.