Haiti II

I woke up this morning and my first order of business was to learn everything I could about the relief efforts online for Haiti. Which organizations are on the ground, how is it going, what's getting done, what are the challenges, what's not happening...

Near and dear to my heart, Family Tracing, has been addressed and will continue to be given attention in different ways. One way people are being encouraged to restore family links is through the ICRC Family Links website. I was happy to read that in addition to the ICRC staff that are already living and working in Haiti, more are on their way as I write this with supplies and expertise.

It's getting more and more strange to do normal life. Like this morning, coffee and blogging. Strange that our lives haven't been pinched and pulled into tight and inconvenient or painful shapes but remain open and spacious. But not unaffected. That's true.....not unaffected; heart breaking and mind on fire with prayer and all. "Did you hear about Haiti?" "Yeah, horrible isn't it?" "Yeah, just horrible." And then it just sits there. What do you do with that? Just get another cup of coffee and keep working on your....whatever it is you're working on? What to do with "open and spacious" at a time like this? That is my koan for today, my seemingly unanswerable question which may possibly contain a nugget of truth, an important lesson.

Light a candle, send good vibes out to all the different realms of affected people I can acknowledge in my mind, stay informed and engaged while walking and working through my own realities of the day, and remembering remembering. That's what I'll do with it today...

Well that and share this: Update from American Red Cross from yesterday...