Praying for Miracles

Slowly, it dawned on me that this earthquake in Haiti was different. In recent years, China, Indonesia, Turkey, were all devastated by massive damage from earthquakes. Within seconds, though, the brain adds it all up: 7 on the Richter scale, poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, badly-constructed buildings, civil unrest, monumental gaps between the countries poorest and richest citizens, and the epicentre being, essentially, right below the most densely-populated city in the country. This could only spell: Hell on earth.

I immediately thought of Fanfan, of Haitian origin, married to a young women, Julie, who grew up in the town where I live. Soon, we learned that this couple's efforts to reach family in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince were fruitless. Living in a one-storey house situated right at the epicentre could only mean disaster for the family, but would this disaster include loss of life?

Darkness descended, not only in the form of nightfall, but in a complete void of communication. News agencies, scrambling to bring some form of information to the public, could only draw on video footage from their archives. There were no pictures. There was no contact. In an age when we can pick up our cell phone and instantly text someone half a world away, the lines of communication were severed.

Infrastructure, we were told, was decimated. No power, no phone lines, no internet... even cell phone contact was virtually impossible.

As we sat down to supper, having just learned of the earthquake, Heather quietly mentioned that two of her friends were in Haiti. I had to check with her a couple of times: are they really in Haiti right now? Yes, right now.

Heather grew up with one of these friends - I could picture her in my mind's eye: Tori has a sweet, kind-hearted disposition. Heather knows how to pick her friends, and she has found some real gems. Catherine, who was born in Haiti, but raised in this area by adoptive parents, is a beautiful and vibrant young woman. Heather has shared an interest in drama with Catherine, and they were both participants in the Baha'i-inspired local dance workshop, One World. Then I thought, what if Heather had been the friend invited, and who had accepted an invitation, to accompany Catherine and her father to Haiti? My thoughts then turned to the mothers of these girls. I could not imagine the anguish. Both these mothers were facing this ordeal without a male partner to help shoulder such an unbearable burden.

There are those times when no recourse remains but to pray. This is one of those times. Haiti is beyond reach for us to lend physical assistance. Of course, material resources are needed, and donations are welcome and forthcoming, but beyond that, one can only pray. As if it had happened yesterday, I remembered the aftermath of 9/11. Similarly, the feelings of helplessness led me, and surely countless others, to the same conclusion: pray.

The amazing thing is that when there is nothing left to do but pray, I often find that prayer is the most important element. I realize that it always was the first line of action I would have been wise to take. I remember, anew, that all strength, all assistance, all compassion, is from the divine realm, from God; and when we pray, we make ourselves a channel for the outpouring of these bounties. There can be no other explanation for how we get through some of the greatest trials in life. It is said that strength comes from within, and this is true. It comes from the divine spark within us that connects us with the unknowable Essence of the universe.

Our prayers were answered last night, after about 48 hours, and the long night of excruciating anguish for these mothers and for Julie and Fanfan has ended. The girls have been found and are said to be "safe". All ten of Fanfan's family members are alive and okay, but homeless. They are living on a soccer field. The challenges facing Haiti are beyond comprehension. My prayer now is that the world does not forget Haiti and its people, and that we support this country not only in its reconstruction but in helping its people to rise out of the poverty and misery that, even without the added misery wrought by natural disasters, has been commonplace there for countless decades.