Tsunami!

I wrote this poem December 28, 2004 after the massive 9.0 earthquake and tsunami two days earlier across the Indian Ocean. It claimed over 225,000 lives in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Maldives, India, Somalia, Kenya and Seychelles, among other countries. The devastation was horrifying, and it claimed lives indiscriminately, from the poorest to the richest. Among the dead was 21-year-old Prince Poom Jensen (พุ่ม เจนเซน) of Thailand, grandson of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช, 1927-2016), the third-longest-reigning monarch in history. The quote at the end of the poem is from Psalm 46:1-3.

This seemed appropriate to post now, in light of the recent devastating earthquake in Syria and Türkiye. The death toll for that is in the thousands last I heard. I can't begin to fathom the devastation and loss from either disaster.

Image by Viks_jin, Adobe Stock

The sun shone bright on the tropical sea
The palm trees swayed gently in the breeze
As the waves brushed softly against the beach.
Who could know what was about to happen?

His Highness the Prince set out on his jet skis
An old beggar asked for money to buy his next meal
A monk knelt before a statue of Buddha
While someone else, facing Mecca, said a prayer to Allah
A mother put her child down for a nap
And tourists lounged lazily on the beach
Snorklers took in the splendor of the magnificent coral
As the sun beat down on Asia and Africa

Then it happened.

The waves grew suddenly large
The rising water engulfed the beggar
As the trembling ground felled the ancient Indonesian temple
And the mosque collapsed in the force of the quake
As a great island shifted 100 feet to the southwest

The earth stopped shaking
But the disaster was far from over
The waves rose higher
Great walls of water threw His Highness into the sea
And dashed the snorklers against the rugged coral
The angry ocean crashed into the beaches
And took the tourists by surprise
3000 miles the water traveled
To wash away African villages
As countless mothers and children across the coasts of Asia and Africa
Were swept from their homes into the raging sea

The sheer force of the tsunamis
Lifted many off the ground
And hurled them far inland or out to sea

How many were lost that day?
How many more will be lost to disease?
Who can say?
But this I know:
God had a reason for this
May His Kingdom be advanced through this,
The worst tragedy of the young century

May this be our comfort:
"God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging"

Let us run to Him
And take shelter in His loving arms
God will be exalted.
Praise His holy Name!

Seven Astronauts

Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of the horrible disaster in the skies over Texas, when seven lives were lost in the Space Shuttle Columbia while re-entering our atmosphere.

I wrote this poem February 2, 2003, the day after it exploded almost exactly 17 years after the tragedy with the Space Shuttle Challenger. I still remember where I was when I watched the Challenger explode on January 28, 1986. Both explosions were deeply traumatic, and both included members who made history, not just in the explosions, but in breaking glass ceilings and paving the way for astronauts, explorers and scientists in the future.

Space Shuttle Columbia tribute poster
Graphic design credit: NASA/Amy Lombardo.
NASA publication number: SP-2010-08-163-KSC

Seven children once gazed up at the stars
And wondered what it was like up there.
Over Israel, India and the United States,
The skies looked down on them
Seeming to call to them

Seven children grew up
Dreaming of what they would do
They became pilots, doctors, scientists, colonels

They watched in horror
As the Challenger blew up
Shortly after takeoff
Not knowing that they would one day
Suffer a similar fate

Seven men and women were accepted by NASA
To explore the heavens
To conduct scientific experiments

Seven families and three nations
Watched in awe as the spaceship lifted off
They dreamed of their fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters
Up there in the skies
Houston got reports of their findings
Scientific knowledge advanced
Until the communication stopped

Seven families waited at Cape Canaveral’s landing strip
Eagerly awaiting their loved ones’ return
They did not expect their joy to turn to tears
They did not expect to hear news of the Columbia
Exploding over Texas
Scattering all over the largest continental state in the US

Seven men and women were lost that day
Seven families learned that their loved ones
Would not be returning
Seven families suffered the same pain
As seven other families
Seventeen years earlier
Three nations lost their sons and daughters
The first Israeli and the first Indian in space

Lost.

Why did this happen?
How?
Praise the Lord
He can do wondrous things
He can work through tragedies
Who knows?
Perhaps this was the tragedy
That will cause many lost souls
To consider where they will go
Maybe people will be saved for eternity
Because God used an exploded space shuttle
And seven lost lives
To bring them to Him

May God have all the glory!

The crew of the Columbia
David Brown, Rick Husband, Laurel Clark,
Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson,
William McCool, Ilan Ramon
Photo by NASA

Disaster in the Skies

January 29, 1986 in the Philippines, January 28 in Florida. I was in second grade at the time, and my mom taught kindergarten at our school in the Philippines. I usually hung out in her classroom before and after school. The launch of the Challenger on its tenth mission had been at 12:38 AM Philippine time (11:38 AM the the day before, EST). I believe it was before school that we were to watch the historic launch. My mom said, "Let's go see the spaceship!" I was excited because spaceships and astronomy have always fascinated me. At the time, the entire elementary shared an Audiovisual (A/V) Room, where classes went when lessons involved movies. (I remember watching Back to the Future at a sleepover in that room in 4th grade, two years later.) We ran from her classroom to the A/V Room, where teachers were gathered to watch the launch at Cape Canaveral. Excitement turned to horror as we watched this projected on the big screen:

Photo by NASA, Kennedy Space Center

Christa McAuliffe was the first teacher and the first private citizen to join a space mission, as part of the first Teacher in Space Project, and it was a huge deal. As I was in second grade, I don't remember a lot about the aftermath, but I do remember running to the Audiovisual Room, and standing in horror as we watched the unthinkable disaster unfold. It is a moment I will never forget.

It's hard to believe this year marks the 37th anniversary of that awful disaster.

The final crew of the Challenger
Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, Judy Resnik
Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Ron McNair
Photo by NASA

NASA Orbiter tribute poster for the Challenger
Graphic design credit: NASA/Lynda Brammer.
NASA publication number: SP-2010-08-162-KSC

My Grown-Up Christmas List

I started this blog several years ago, in part to post thoughts on Christmas carols. It's been a while since I've actually posted some, so I thought this might be a good time to do some more.

I find it interesting that my opinion on certain songs and other subjects can change over the course of my life. Take for example "My Grown-Up Christmas List." When I was young, I found the song rather perplexing, and I didn't like it. Though I was never particularly one who actually believed in Santa Claus (though I love the idea, and St. Nicholas was a real person...but that's another subject), I have always loved the magic and wonder of Christmas. One of my favorite parts growing up, in addition to the family time and decorations and everything else, was opening presents on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Part of the excitement was what was waiting for me under the tree - both the anticipation and the joy of opening them. So to listen to a song that lists a bunch of wishes that aren't physical and can't be unwrapped around the tree just didn't appeal to me so much. Of course, I've never had an issue with the concepts mentioned, but to consider them Christmas gifts just seemed odd.

But the older I get, the more I realize how much we need all these things:

No more lives torn apart 

That wars would never start

And time would heal all hearts

And everyone would have a friend

And right would always win

And love would never end

This is my grown-up Christmas list.

Graphic from clipartmax.com

I was born in the late '70s, during the Cold War, shortly after the Vietnam War ended. Growing up in the Philippines in the '80s and early '90s, we went through the turbulence of the assassination of Ninoy Aquino, Ferdinand Marcos' martial law, the People Power Revolution, and multiple coup attempts, during which time it was sometimes dangerous for us to be out in public due to the color of our skin. In 1986, we watched in horror on TV as the Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff. The Berlin Wall fell and protesters were mown down by tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989. We gathered at school in the early '90s to watch CNN reports on Operation Desert Storm, in which some alumni of our school were fighting. Coming back to the US in 1991, we watched on Channel One in class as they reported on the "Soviet Disunion" as the USSR crumbled into multiple nations. In 1995, a classmate mentioned they heard the Federal Building in Oklahoma City had been bombed, and all lesson plans went out the window as our teacher turned on the news and we watched in horror as a massive chunk of the building was gone and suffering people were everywhere. Shortly after getting up on September 11, 2001, I learned the World Trade Center had been hit and we watched in horror on TV as the second tower was hit. Nearly two years ago, our own nation was rocked by a violent coup attempt that brought back terrible memories from the Philippines in the '80s. We are still going through a horrible pandemic that has claimed millions of lives. Even among the living, it has torn apart families and friends as political differences and conspiracy theories have caused more than just physical death. Ukraine has been defending itself for nearly a year now as Russia continues its unprovoked war. Discrimination and violence against minorities continue unabated, as we hear of shootings almost daily, many of them due to racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, antisemitism, political differences, conspiracy theories, and more. Families at our southern border have been ripped apart in the name of "national security," when what they needed was love and support. The list goes on. Earthquakes, tornadoes, typhoons, hurricanes, and more national disasters have hit around the world. So many lives have been torn apart by war, natural disasters, disease, politics and more.

The older I get, the more "My Grown-Up Christmas List" becomes my plea and prayer for the world. 

As children we believe

The grandest sight to see

Was something lovely wrapped beneath the tree

But Heaven only knows

That packages and bows

Can never heal a hurting human soul

That right there is the story of my life. So many people are hurting. While I still love opening and giving presents at Christmas, I long more than ever for an end to the conflicts, wars, pain, disasters, and more. I long for peace on countless fronts.

Peace would be a much greater Christmas gift than anything that can be wrapped and put under a tree.

The song was written by David Foster and Linda Thompson-Jenner and has been performed by Natalie Cole, Amy Grant, Kelly Clarkson and others. What was once a perplexing song has become one of the most meaningful and timely songs I've heard, and it has been going through my head a lot lately with everything that has been going on. It has become the cry of my heart for everyone to come together, to give and receive love, to open our hearts to the millions of people around us who are suffering.