I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet

I understand. 

I felt the Earth move on two occasions yesterday.

At about 1am, I felt what all the people of Haiti have been feeling since the major quake.  A series of aftershocks hit.  I wasn't fully asleep when it happened.  I have never been in an earthquake before, but there is no mistaking it when it happens.  To me, an avid RVer, it felt a lot like trying to sleep in the camper bed while my wife, Eileen, is driving down a bumpy road.  But having spent the last week talking first hand to Haitians about the scenes they've seen of walls falling on top of their friends and families, the shaking was a sensation I took seriously. 

Sharing a room with my Brother Tom, he and I both shot out of bed and out into the garden outside of our little dorm room.  My other Brothers who've I shared this journey with did the same.  I've got to tell you, if humor has a place in tragedy, it was that moment when I looked down the row of dorm rooms bursting open and 11 (not small) guys running out in their underwear for safety. 

It made me giggle for a moment.  But after spending the next half hour evaluating the situation then finally crawling back into bed with my heart pumping a million miles and hour, I understood.  I understood why so many people of Haiti are sleeping in tent cities.  There is no restful sleep with one foot on the floor wondering if the next aftershock is going to send a concrete block wall on top of you.  The only thing to do is gather in communities...Safe in the open spaces.  I've seen thousands of tent cities spread across any open field accessible.  They are dotted by blue tarps that arrived before ours did.  But most of the "homes" are cobbled together tent-like structures made of tree branches, bed sheets, plastic bags, discarded shrink-wrap, and anything else that can be collected that will help a Haitian family find protection from the elements.

 The tremor at 1am was the SECOND time the Earth moved for me yesterday.  The first time was during the day in the mission field.  I've started at least 3 times trying to put down in words what I experienced yesterday interacting with the people of Haiti and seeing the face of God in each one of them.  Each time I had to hit delete because my account just wasn't adequate.  I will try again after I have had time to meditate on it for a while longer.  In the meantime, I've asked each of the Ordinary Men on this trip with me; and I ask each person in my life; to help me stay accountable.  I want to stay accountable to do the things necessary to make a difference in this world.  To do the things that Jesus pointed out in Matthew 25 that I should be doing for the "least of these."  That's where this story will end.....Now I just have to fill in the chapters that lead up to that ending.