{"id":909,"date":"2011-03-11T13:43:55","date_gmt":"2011-03-11T13:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/2011\/03\/strongest-quake-in-japans-history-unleashes-deadly-tsunami.html"},"modified":"2011-03-11T13:43:55","modified_gmt":"2011-03-11T13:43:55","slug":"strongest-quake-in-japans-history-unleashes-deadly-tsunami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2011\/03\/strongest-quake-in-japans-history-unleashes-deadly-tsunami.html","title":{"rendered":"Strongest quake in Japan’s history unleashes deadly tsunami"},"content":{"rendered":"

The images and reports coming from Japan should make us all stop today and offer prayers for the victims, the relief workers, and everyone impacted. <\/p>\n

If you would like to support the mounting relief effort, please visit the Red Cross<\/a> to make your donations.<\/p>\n

In times of natural disasters and the loss of life we are often left with the question of God’s role. I’ll not dive into that today. I do want to explore the idea of “Acts of God” which refer to the unforseen, and usually catastrophic, events that occur. <\/p>\n

A tornado knocking down a house can be termed an act of God, but winning the lottery is just plain luck…interesting.<\/p>\n

Please continue to pray. Fight the urge to watch the news as entertainment. These images are fascinating in their power of what nature can do. Do not forget there are real people being swept away. Those are real homes and real buildings on fire. Those are actual boats, not CGI-animated creations from the latest Hollywood blockbuster.<\/p>\n

It is a chilling call to prayer. <\/p>\n


From CNN:<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

The most powerful earthquake to hit Japan in recorded history struck off the island nation’s shore on Friday, collapsing buildings, touching off widespread fires and unleashing walls of water up to 30 feet high.<\/div>\n

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