An earthquake in New Zealand, a country already shocked and rocked by a recent mining disaster. 

An earthquake in Japan along with widespread tsunami warnings.

A reminder that humanity will never subdue - as in control - the earth.

A reminder of the frailty and vulnerability of life as people going about their daily lives either have them extinguished in a moment or slowly ebbed away from mortal wounds or impossibility of rescue.

Reading Angela's blog post of Psalm 46 I found myself pondering also 1 Kings 19.  At first sight/hearing the two may not seem to connect, not least as in the 1 Kings passage the LORD is notably absent from the earthquake, wind and fire but is detected in 'the sound of sheer silence' (NRSV).  On (brief) reflection I think perhaps they don't disagree but have different emphases.

Psalm 46, in the crude Catriona translation says " even though the world is in turmoil and earthquakes, wind and fire disturb you" ... "shut up, stop what you're doing and listen... I AM still God and I AM still in charge" 

It isn't that God abandons us to the consequences of the earthquakes, wind and fire, I am sure God is very present within them, it is that God is sometimes silently present.  Maybe we'd like God to say 'desist' to the storm, like Jesus did on Lake Gennesaret, but most likely God says, silently, "I AM here, I AM with you, it hurts me too..."

"Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire, speak through the earthquake, wind and fire, oh still small voice of calm."

Let's pray for people affected by these latest human tragedies that they will not feel abandoned (by the world as well as God) and for ourselves that our responses will bring lasting transformation and not be mere, soul salving rhetoric.

Not a lot to say today - spent half the morning shivering in a cubicle at the hopsital waiting for various people to do various things to me.  Not entirely sure why the waiting room is at sauna temperature and the treatment area rather chilly but there it is.  All is well and everyone was happy with what they saw/did/whatever.

Lots of mildly medical contradictions though...

(1) when I left hospital a month ago... 'keep your arm moving and especially bending and straightening it' whilst 'resting it on a cushion untill the swelling goes down'

(2) in caring for my scars... 'massage them with E45 (or moisturiser) regularly' whilst 'keeping them covered with tape' (the taping is meant to continue for three months to assist in making flatter, smoother scars)

(3) on managing the seroma in my back whilst caring for my reconstruction... 'wear something with lycra to provide pressure on the seroma site' whilst 'avoiding pressure on the reconstruction'  (anyone come across a lycra half-garment?!)

So, today I was injected with what my consultant termed a 'magic injection' which is meant to stop the seroma (which had just been drained) recurring, saw a physio who was as bewildered as I as to the cause for concern over my arm movement five weeks post surgery (she was impressed by my climbing the wall!) and a consultant who was very happy with how my scars are healing.  So, onto mega-stretching arm exercises, needing to find a husband to massage the muscles whilst I stretch them (! that's extrapolated from what the physio said...) and hoping my flatter back stays flatter.

Meantime my hair continues to grow back steadily and I have the cutest little eyelashes you ever did see beneath my gently regrowing Healy-brows (just maybe they'll be a little more ladylike now?!).  All is going well and all medics are happy... a good job jobbed!