Disaster puts life, death in higher perspective

Published on March 5th, 2010

By HARLEY SUNDOWN

I've been thinking about what happened at Haiti with the massive earthquake and the massive death count over 100,000 and rising. We all know what death is and the effects it has on a small community like our villages and families when it happens. What is happening at Haiti must be very sad, desperate and crazy all at once.

I suppose there are two ways we can look at death and what is happening at Haiti. On a side note, I heard about what our supposed evangelist Pat Robertson said about the deaths and how Haiti should be deserving of this disaster because of the "deal with the devil" it had made to get out of the French rule.

Despite any supposed happening like this, no man of God should ever put themselves in position to look down on any people and judge them. This is not a teaching of Christianity and is sad when a supposed leader says something like this.

Nonetheless, we have so much sadness and desperation happening on earth and people in Haiti doing mass burials.

I wonder what is happening at the other side at this moment. God must be throwing the biggest welcoming party with100,000-plus people arriving at once.

There must be so much joy happening on the other side with loved ones being welcomed by the ones who have gone on before them. No more are the people who died living among the hungry, the corrupt, the poverty, the crime and the earthly problems.

It's easy to say what Pat Robertson said and say the people are going to hell. That is not the faith Christianity is supposed to be built on. Christianity is based on faith, the belief that we are destined to go to heaven if we live good and according to God's words.

I find a lot of wisdom in my mom's words when she tells me not to cry to much when a loved one goes. It's really hard not to do that because we think only in terms of physical death.

We block out the fact that death is not death, but another phase in God's great plan.

We will be born, we will die, we will go to where we deserve to go depending on how we live.

It's because we grow an attachment, and our heart grows love for people, that with physical death parting seems hard.

It takes a lot to put into perspective that physical death is only temporary. I think the elders can tell us that life is so fast. They can remember being 6 years old and already they are elders. I remember being in Head Start and already am a grandpa and three years away from 50.

Geee!

Sometimes death is not a pleasant experience for people but when it's time, it's time. Regardless of when we die, how we die, we die physically but live forever.

Harley Sundown is an educator from Scammon Bay and a member of the Calista Corp. board of directors.