Last week was vacation for me! I spent the week in Nebraska with my Mom. We visited, enjoyed music, watched movies and shopped. Yet, the background to our lovely week together was the tragedy unfolding in Japan. The devastation of the earthquake and tsunami were horrible, and added to that was the damage to the nuclear plants causing fear and risk to life. We would occasionally turn on the television to see what was happening, but it was almost too painful to watch.

When we see tragedies like this unfold ~ as well as those in Haiti and other parts of the world ~ it is easy to wonder, "Where is God?" Couldn't God stop the earthquake, halt the tsunami, repair the nuclear facilities? Why is there so much death and sadness in the world? I would love to have the answers to these questions, but unfortunately I do not. What I do know, though, is that God is with the people of Japan in the acts of love and compassion that are shared. And I believe in my heart that God is with us when we reach out to the people of Japan and others who are in need.

This coming Sunday we will be reading a passage from Exodus where we hear the people of Israel complaining about the lack of water as they travel through the desert on the way to the Promised Land. The people, in their despair, question, "Is God with us or not?" They get their answer as Moses strikes the rock and water gushes forth. God is with them as they quench their thirst in the dry desert land.

Below is a prayer for the people if Japan taken from "A Place for Prayer." Let us continually pray for God's presence to be felt among us and around the world.

O gracious God, who created this earth
who brought order out of chaos
who designed land and water
earth and sky and all creatures
be merciful in your grace once again
restoring order through the calamity
of the earthquake and tsunami that struck
disaster and took lives in Japan. Amen.