I have found it difficult this week with my car giving me trouble and potentially costing a lot of $$$. It has stressed me and concerned me that we will get behnd financially.

Yet when I open the papers I get things back in perspective.

I find myself often distubingly unaffected by tragedies, but this one has and continues to pain me. I find myself putting myself in the place of the dad who discovered his 6 month old daughter had floated away while he held her clothes, or the mum who had to choose which kid to save. I see the pic of the little 5 year old Swedish boy in the Sunday Times who had lost his entire family and I wonder… what now?

The understatement of the century comes from the Sri Lankan cleric who said ‘Its very difficult to tell people God loves them when this happens’. You think?!

I have a sense that in all of us (no matter our theo-logic) there is a sense that God shouldn’t allow stuff like this to happen. It doesn’t sit well at all that he could stand by and not intervene. I feel like that. So when people ask me (and no one has yet) I find myself unable to comment effectively on it all.

Danelle reminded me that half the reason this tragedy happened is because poverty exists – people are forced to live in sub-standard communities close to the water’s edge – in makeshift houses – subsistence living – because rich bastards like us don’t share enough of our wealth, or because we like to take advantage of their situation and take cheap holidays over ther.

I asked her if she felt we should give to the appeal in some way. Ummm?…. Actually she put it like this – "If we don’t give to these people and give big then what kind of people are we?" I have to agree – not what kind of ‘Christians’ are we, but what kind of people.

Somehow it felt like a drop in the bucket, but between them Aussies have managed to roust up $50 million. Its still a pittance probably compared to what we will spend on fast food this week or on CD’s, but its a start.

Rant over.