Tsunami-sized respect for Nature

When I reflect upon the events that have taken place in Japan over the last few days, I know I am among many who have a new found respect for the powerful forces of nature. Reported this morning, the devastating earthquake was "upgraded" to a 9.0 magnitude, which of course means that it was 10 times as powerful as the 8.9 originally reported. To the residents of Japan, I'm certain the Richter scale number means little to them in comparison to the more tangible number of lost lives, lost homes, lost businesses & commerce, and the billions it will cost to rebuild that part of the country. As more and more bodies are pulled from the twisted, soaked wreckage left behind by the Tsunami, the numbers of grieving Japanese will rise exponentially.

Seeing the video is almost surreal, with cars and trucks bobbing around in the water like little Matchbox toys at the beach, amidst unbelievable debris. And as is always the case, these pictures do not convey the sheer totality of the devastation. I am almost certain that you would have to be there to take it all in. And even then, I'm sure it would be mind-numbing. Where do they begin rescue efforts? The scope of the damage is so enormous, the task so daunting.

As I continue watching the reports about the nuclear power plants and the very real threat of a nuclear meltdown following the earthquake and tsunami; the "before and after" pictures of the land, a continuous thought keeps running through my mind. That is, no matter how much of a "footprint" we worry about leaving on this planet, nature has shown us in catastrophic detail how much bigger "her" footprint is in comparison to ours. It is like placing an infant's foot inside of a tyrannosaurus Rex print.

That's not to say that we are not to care for our planet and use our resources wisely, but I think we seriously underestimate the effect that we as mere humans have on this earth. Look at Japan. In a matter of mere minutes, the earth shifted and buildings crumbled. Less than an hour later, a massive wall of water, traveling at the speed of a jumbo jet crashed into Japan and leveled just about everything in it's path.

Interviews of those lucky enough to have escaped the horror reveal the sheer terror that was felt among even these seasoned veterans of earthquakes.

I've always had what I felt was a healthy respect for nature, seeing in my lifetime plenty of destruction left in the wake of tornadoes and hurricanes. But this catastrophe seems to have driven home the fact that, no matter how much we would like to believe otherwise, we have absolutely no control over the mighty intensity of nature and what it can wreak upon our lives.

So I no longer simply respect nature.

I am in awe.