LOVE WORKS DAILY 02/27/07 - GRATITUDE AND HOPE

LOVE WORKS DAILY 02/27/07 - GRATITUDE AND HOPE

INSPIRATIONAL MOMENT:
(Great Thoughts By History's Inspired Thinking Men and Women)

It is vital that people "count their blessings" to
 appreciate what they possess without having to undergo its
 actual loss.

-Abraham Maslow

TIM's BLOG
(Random Thoughts and Tim's Daily World):

Welcome again to some new readers!  Love to You!

Today's Love Works was originally written on August 30th
of 2005.  If the date doesn't jump out at you..that was the
first date of the devisation of hurricaine Katrina in
New Orleans.  News reports were just coming in, and at
least at first, it seemed like things might not be that
bad.  Well, the news was wrong...it was terrible, and at
the time I felt rather bad about writing my story that
day.  When I re-read it a few days later I felt like
I was saying that Katrina was not all that bad and
that others had it much worse.  Reading it now...I realize that
what I think I was really trying to say was that no
matter how bad it is we really can "count our blessings"
that it is not worse.

For those in New Orleans that week, and in the weeks
and months to come, I don't think it could have seemed
or been any worse.  I can only imagine.

But most of the world did not live in Katrina's wake...
and I'm not sure how really grateful we all are about that.

I know the rescue workeres who were shipped into the area,
and all of the other terrible disasters to occur around the
world (including war and famine) can see it first hand
and really appreciate that this was NOT happening to them.

So, from August 2005...Gratitude and Hope...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
(Brand New and Classic Love Works Essays 2001-2007)

Today my mind is with those that have suffered losses of life,
home and employment due to the destructive powers of mother nature
and the natural disasters she sends to us.

A thunderous rain storm hit where I lived for about
5 minutes yesterday,  flooding the street for a moment,  and
then the sun returned.

I knew in my mind that this was nothing like the terrible tragedy
going on elsewhere today.  For today, as of the time of this writing,
a tremendous hurricane had ravaged and destroyed much of the southern
U.S. coast line. 

Hurricaine Katrina!

***************************************************************

Writes Mark Wallheiser
BILOXI, Mississippi (Reuters) -

 A widespread disaster unfolded on the U.S. Gulf Coast on Tuesday
as up to 80 people were reported dead in Mississippi, and
floodwaters poured into low-lying New Orleans through levees
 battered by powerful Hurricane Katrina.

The death toll was expected to grow as rescuers
struggled through high water and mountains of
 debris to reach areas devastated by Katrina when
it struck the region on Monday. Hundreds needed to be
 rescued from rooftops,     U.S. Coast Guard officials said.

The storm inflicted catastrophic damage all along the
 coast as it slammed into Louisiana with 140 mph (224 kph) winds,
 then swept across Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.

It shattered buildings, broke boats, smashed cars,
toppled trees and flooded cities. Risk analysts estimated the
 storm would cost insurers $26 billion, the most in U.S. history.

*****************************************************************

Now, this was a big storm,  and history will tell just how big, when
all is said and done.

I don't want to diminish what a horrific event it must have been for
those who were there. 

But today, I thought about gratitude.  I thought about my little
rainstorm in Oregon.  And my thoughts also went to
other disasters that have happened in history.

Certainly,  I felt gratitude that in my corner of the world,  I did
not have a hurricaine or any major disaster....

I thought about other huge disasters to hit this planet ...

An earthquake that hit the Kanto Plain, Japan, on September 1, 1923,
destroyed an estimated 575,000 dwellings in Tokyo and Yokohama.
 The official total of people killed and missing in the quake
 and its resultant fires was 142,807. Measuring 8.19 on the
 Richter scale, this disaster devastated southeast Japan.
The cities of Tokyo and Yokohama, with populations of 3 million
and 423,000 respectively, were hardest hit. The quake caused
fires to break out in both cities, further adding to the
devastation.

Around 890,000 dwellings were destroyed when the Hwai
and Yangtze rivers in eastern China flooded in August,
1950. In addition, 1.4 million ha. (3.5 million acres) of
land in the area were left untillable for the entire
planting season.

The tsunami that struck South East Asia on December 26,
 2004 has been confirmed as the most devastating in
 modern history. The series of waves were caused by an
earthquake off the coast of Northern Sumatra that measured
 9.0 on the Richter scale.
The countries directly affected are Bangladesh, Burma,
Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka,
 Seychelles, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, and India, including
 the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. However, many small islands
and archipelago were also devastated. The scale of
devastation has resulted in a death toll over 300,000 and over
 five million homeless –­ the largest death toll from a tsunami.

The Kobe earthquake of January 1995 resulted in overall losses
of $100 billion (£63.04 billion), making it the
costliest natural disaster to befall any one country.
More than ten years after the earthquake that caused such
devastation, there is little sign of life in Kobe returning
 to normal. With such enormous damage to people and
property, it was inevitable that life in the region
would be changed forever. Many people must now pay
two mortgages - on the homes they currently own and the
ones they lost in the quake.

On April 26, 1942, 1,549 people were killed by a coal-dust
 explosion at Honkeiko (Benxihu) Colliery, China. Coal
dust continues to post serious risks to miners – as recently
as May 15, 2002, 18 miners were killed in an explosion at
a coal mine in Wentang township in China's southern
 Hunan province.

The most individuals killed in a terrorist act, according
 to the official count from the authorities, is 2,823 as
a result of the attack on the World Trade Center, New York,
 USA, on September 11, 2001.

The fire following the April 18, 1906, San Francisco
 earthquake in the USA caused damage amounting to an
estimated US $5,748,000,000 (in 1906!)

When the Tambora volcano in Sumbawa, Indonesia
(then the Dutch East Indies) erupted from April 5-10, 1815,
92,000 people were killed.

The highest earthquake death toll in modern times
was caused by one that hit Tangshan, China, on
July 28, 1976. The official figure of 655,237 deaths was
 first adjusted to 750,000 and then to 242,000.

Do these numbers and events make me feel different about
Hurricaine Katrina or it's victims?

No.

Does this make me feel that we should be any less compassionate
or extend thoughts of love and hope any less?

Of course not.

What is it does make me realize is that we are all, for the
most part,  very fortunate.

Most of us were not in any of the above mentioned disasters...
including Katrina....

 And we are not nearly grateful enough!

Regardless of how bleak our problems may look today, Today...
someplace in the world...it is most likely even worse...

TODAY there is hope. Things can and will get better...

There is always hope!

And because of that hope.

Today I remember how fortunate we all are.

How fortunate everyone living today really is.

Today, I have hope and gratitude gratitude!

Adapted from LOVE WORKS DAILY 08/30/05
(c)2007 T.Thomas Henry