What choice will we make now?

During a morning news report covering the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the reporter remarked that in Japanese culture it is not typical to ask "Why?" when something like this happens.

"Why is there such devastation?"

"Why is there so much death and loss?"

"Why do so many innocent ones suffer?"

These are the sorts of questions we often raise in the West, he noted. Tragedy tends to violate our sense of justice and the life we may assume we have a right to. The Japanese, on the other hand, perhaps in part because of the influence of Shintoism and Buddhism, tend to ask instead: "How will we respond now that this terrible tragedy has happened?"

There is grief and lament, to be sure. There is agony felt in the terrible losses that have been suffered. Yet, somehow there is also the impulse to bring attention to the present and to the choices one must make now in response. How will we make the healthiest and most life-giving choices now, given what has already transpired?

There is great wisdom in this response. The response of the Japanese people in these days of suffering is a gift to those of us who bear witness to their pain and loss. We ask ourselves "What can I do to help?" Along with joining efforts to ease their suffering, one thing we might do is follow their example in our own daily living.