by: Norberto Betita
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| Bohol, Philippines Earthquake |
Miracles are common place nowadays that oftentimes most of
us no longer recognize it in our everyday life. It seemed to be so usual a
sight to the physical eye that we generally fail to acknowledge the phenomenon
with gratitude to God. On many occasions I talked with my daughter presently
residing at UAE face to face and eye to eye in front of our family computer
through a small digital instrument they call webcam. There was no wire
connecting us from both countries divided far apart by lands and by seas. But
the wonder of it all is that my old wrinkled face goes to her computer and her youthful
countenance just puffs up in front of me. My daughter in Cebu City immediately
called to inform us that they are safe when the quake hits the Provinces of
Bohol and Cebu. There was no wire connecting her and my wife as they chat using
a cellphone but they were able to hear from and talk with each other. I had
witnessed and viewed the series of news reports on television right at our
living room from Bohol, Cebu and Manila. Again, there are no wires connecting
my television to the stations and reporters. Are not these events miraculous? Webster dictionary define miracles as an
extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs; an
extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing or accomplishment; a divinely
natural phenomenon experienced humanly as the fulfillment of spiritual law. And
so these things are miracles, for the elements that carry the signals are
infinitely in place and governed by spiritual laws as part of God’s dealings
with humankind in the universe harnessed by man through the use of man-made
gadgets. However, because of the continual stream and sequence of events, they
become an ordinary occurrence.
While miracles are becoming common place, there
still are unseen and quiet miracles and wonders from God.
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| Bohol, Philippines Earthquake |
As reported the calamity has been devastating and terrifying
to witness even just on television. The destructions had been dreadful and
truly a heart rending sight. The series of television reports placed the death
toll at an estimated number of 200. The description as reported that the energy
released by the quake was like 32 Hiroshima atomic bomb strikes dread and
terror into the hearts of men. In Bohol
alone there were reported 1.2 million residents which need shelter with a total
estimate of 36,000 houses being damaged. Total estimated damage to
infrastructures amounted to P2.5 billion. A few miraculous incidents were
physically noted, reported and published on television and the internet.
However, as I witness the TV reported accounts on losses of
both lives and properties, and draw a distinction between the many other
earthquakes that happened in many parts of the world in not so distant time, my
heart swelled with gratitude for the manifestation of the providence of God in
preserving the many other lives that should have been affected by such a very
strong earthquake.
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| Haiti, Dominican Republic - Palace before and after |
For instance, on January 12, 2010 an earthquake with a
magnitude of 7.0 hits Haiti, Dominican Republic. Total casualties were
estimated at 159,000 to 316,000 deaths. The government of Haiti estimated that
250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or severely
damaged. An estimated of 1.5 million
people were left homeless (source, Wikipedia, www.Google.com).
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| Japan Earthquake and Tsunami |
On March 17, 2011 Japan was hit by a 9.0 magnitude
earthquake that triggered a deadly 23-foot tsunami. According to the official toll,
the disaster left 15,839 dead, 5,950 injured, and 3,642 missing. On December
26, 2004, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake ruptured in the Indian Ocean, off the
northwest coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. More than 225,000 people
died from the disaster, a half a million were injured, and millions were left
homeless (source, Beth Rowen and Catherine McNiff, inforplease, www.google.com).
Voice of America, Ridgwell TV Report declared that Japan’s
government estimated the cost of damage at 25 trillion yen – or U.S. $309
billion (Henry Ridgwell, VOA, www.google.com).
The energy released by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and
tsunami is equivalent to over 1500 times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. As
a result of the magnitude of the damage, nations all over the world provided
over US$14 billion in aid for damaged regions. (Wikipedia, www.google.com).
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| Japan Earthquake and Tsunami |
As I study and ponder on the intensity level of comparison
between the Bohol, Philippines quake and that of Haiti quake, Japan’s
earthquake and tsunami, and the Indian Ocean/Sumatra, Indonesia quake and
tsunami, I could not help but feel the love and mercy and the miraculous power
which God poured out upon the Filipino people.
The unseen and quiet miracles came about as the calamitous event
happened on a holiday---on a time when most people are at home. It occurred at
an earlier time when malls and offices are still closed for business; when most
churches which were totally damaged were unfilled with devotees. And, most of
all, its epicentre falls on a rural area where there is not so much people, and
in an unknown, hidden or newly discovered fault line as reported by the
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs). Then my thoughts
brought me to the promises of God through His prophets, “...he will preserve
the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fullness of his wrath
must come, and the righteous be preserved... Wherefore the righteous need not
fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved...” (1 Nephi 22:17.) In consideration of the minimal
damages to life and property despite the comparative magnitude level with that
of 7.0 Haiti quake, I seemed to see that “behind the dim unknown, standeth God
within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.” (“The Present Crisis,” James
Russel Lowell, as quoted by Marion G. Romney.)
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| Japan Earthquake and Tsunami |
Among the many signs of the last days I found this warning
most fitting and consequential of the recent earthquake that befell the
Philippines, particularly the Provinces of Bohol and Cebu: “A desolating scourge shall go forth among the
inhabitants of the earth, and shall continue to be poured out from time to
time, if they repent not, until the earth is empty, and the inhabitants thereof
are consumed away and utterly destroyed by the brightness of my coming. Behold,
I tell you these things, even as I told the people of the destruction of
Jerusalem; and my word shall be verified at this time as it hath hitherto been
verified.” (D&C 5:19-20.) I sensed that God is giving as the chance as a
people to repent and make right our lives. The damage to life, properties and
infrastructures are irrelevant when compared to those suffered by our
neighboring countries from the earthquakes and tempests which befell them. But
it carried a grim reminder for us as a people.
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| Japan Earthquake and Tsunami |
George Albert Smith declared, “We are not out of the woods.
This world is in for a house cleaning unless the sons and daughters of our
Heavenly Father repent of their sins and turn to him.
“Though the world may be filled with distress, and the
heavens gather blackness, and the vivid lightnings flash, and the earth quake
from center to circumference, if we know that God lives, and our lives are
righteous, we will be happy because we know our Father approves [of] our lives.
“Conform your lives to the teachings of the gospel of Jesus
Christ and when calamities threaten you will feel the support of his all
powerful arm.”
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| Sumatra, Indonesia Earthquake and Tsunami |
What a hopeful assurance, indeed, and what a glorious guarantee
of protection and safety. Yet such are subject to our individual action of
spiritual renewal to repentance.
“Now all the acts of governments, all the armies of the
nations, all the learning and the wisdom of man together cannot turn these
calamities aside. The only way they can be averted is for men to accept and
conform to the way of life revealed by God our Heavenly Father. Calamities will
come as a matter of cause and effect.” (Marion G. Romney.)
It is high time perhaps that we turn away from our wicked
ways and mend the hearts cankered by selfishness, greed, and corruption. We are
in time to move on along the path of our Christian heritage and prove to our
God that we are worthy of His extended hands of protection from the calamities
long foretold.
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