Prayer of St Francis of Assissi

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace
Where there is hatred let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light and where there is sadness, joy.

O Lord, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled but to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love
For it is in giving that I receive
It is in pardoning that I am pardoned;
And it is in dying that I am born to eternal life. Amen.

Nearly 60,000 people have perished. Nearly half of this number are children. There are thousands of people still missing. The number of dead is expected to rise. I have read that this number could double with the threat of disease and lack of reliable food and water supplies. The housing and shelter in many areas has been completely destroyed or severely damaged.

The largest relief effort in history is currently underway, and we can help.

What can we do? Pray. Give. Pray.

Following are some of the agencies accepting contributions for aid to people affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Asia.

ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
247 West 37th Street, Suite 1201
New York, N.Y. 10018
212-967-7800 x108
www.actionagainsthunger.org

AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE
45 West 36th Street, 10th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10018
800-889-7146
www.ajws.org

AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE
South Asia Tsunami Relief
Box 321
847A Second Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10017
212-687-6200 ext. 851
www.jdc.org

AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE
AFSC Crisis Fund
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, Pa. 19102
215-241-7000
www.afsc.org

AMERICAN RED CROSS
International Response Fund
P.O. Box 37243
Washington, D.C. 20013
800-HELP NOW
www.redcross.org

CARE
151 Ellis Street
Atlanta, GA 30303
800-521-CARE
www.care.org

CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES
Tsunami Emergency
P.O. Box 17090
Baltimore, Md. 21203-7090
800-736-3467
www.catholicrelief.org

DIRECT RELIEF INTERNATIONAL
27 South La Patera Lane
Santa Barbara, Calif. 93117
805-964-4767
www.directrelief.org

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
P.O. Box 1856
Merrifield, Va. 22116-8056
888-392-0392
www.doctorswithoutborders.org

EPISCOPAL RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT
Emergency Fund
P. O. Box 12043
Newark, NJ 07101
800-334-7626
www.er-d.org

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS/RED CRESCENT
www.ifrc.org

INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS
Earthquake/Tsunami Relief
1919 Santa Monica Boulevard, Suite 300
Santa Monica, Calif. 90404
800-481-4462
www.imcworldwide.org

INTERNATIONAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHARITIES
Asia Disaster Response
P.O. Box 630225
Baltimore, MD 21263-0225
877-803-4622
www.iocc.org

ISLAMIC RELIEF USA
Southeast Asia Earthquake Emergency
P.O. Box 6098
Burbank, Calif. 91510
888-479-4968
www.irw.org/asiaquake

MERCY CORPS
Southeast Asia Earthquake Response
Dept. W
P.O. Box 2669
Portland, Ore. 97208
800-852-2100
www.mercycorps.org

OPERATION USA
8320 Melrose Avenue, Suite 200
Los Angles, Calif. 90069
800-678-7255
www.opusa.org

OXFAM AMERICA
Donor Services Department
26 West Street
Boston, MA 12111-1206
800-77-OXFAM
www.oxfamamerica.org

SAVE THE CHILDREN
Asia Earthquake/Tidal Wave Relief Fund
54 Wilton Road
Westport, Conn. 06880
800-728-3843
www.savethechildren.org

UNICEF
General Emergency Fund
333 E. 38th Street
New York, NY 10016
800-4-UNICEF
www.unicef.org

Source: The New York Times

The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami: Resource blog for help, contributions, and news.

The events in the Ukraine have been overshadowed by the devastation in Asia in recent days but still amazing things happening there. A number of first-person accounts from TulipGirl, Discoshaman, and Neeka.

There’s a heart-shaped hole in the clouds outside my office window. And I don’t have my camera with me. Errrrgggg.

Oh, well. Now it has drifted into the shape of a giant arrow pointing towards… umm… the airport. It wants me to take a vacation. Yes, that must be it.

An estimated 13,000 people reported dead with millions displaced by the powerful tsunamis created from an underwater earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale. OMG.

Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit has a list of bloggers with first-hand accounts from the region affected by the tsunami. Click here for the list.

The Command Post has a good amount of information about what has been happening.

For contributions to help those in need, I would suggest the Red Cross.

UPDATE: More than 23,000 dead as of Monday. Google News.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Oh, it’s only 10 o’clock in the morning…

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good mid-afternoon nap after you’ve eaten a lot for lunch or prepare for your family’s Christmas dinner!

The sentiment is there but that just seems a bit wordy.

Merry Christmas to all!

Listening to the A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, drinking hot tea, enjoying good memories, and reading a good book on Christmas Eve.

As I pulled a Christmas card envelope from my mailbox yesterday, I got excited. The brief thought passed through my mind that it might be from my Grandma Walters.

Then, as I stood there at the mailbox, it all hit me again.

I remembered the weeks that my grandmother had spent in hospice care this past spring, the hours that my family and I had stayed at her bedside, and the brief moments of hope when her mind seemed to be clear once again. I remembered her telling me how handsome of a man I had become and how good of a boy I had been. I remembered telling her that I loved her. And I remembered the day in the last week of May when I found myself holding tightly to the handle of the casket as we carried it across the uneven ground of the cemetery.

* * *

Every year for many years, I have bought hot tea and crackers as a present to my Grandma Walters. It has always been one of the final gifts on my list. In a small way, I guess this last-minute purchase of tea and crackers had become something of a personal tradition. To me, it signified that all of my Christmas shopping was finished for the year.

I won’t be buying any hot tea or crackers as a present this year, but instead I will try to begin a new personal tradition. Tomorrow, on Christmas Eve, I plan to enjoy a nice hot cup of tea with some crackers to celebrate the life and the memory of my grandmother. I will also take the time to remember all of those whose lives have touched and graced my friends’ and families’ hearts throughout the years.

* * *

Christmas is meant to be a joyous celebration.

As a Christian, I celebrate the birth of the Christ child, the coming of the Messiah, and the advent of salvation. In Bethlehem, some two thousand or so years ago, a child was born so that he might become the light that shines in the darkness. It is in Christ that I place my faith, hope, and love.

Life is meant to be a joyous celebration.

Yes, there is pain. Yes, there is sorrow. There are difficult times in life and there are the hard memories which surface at unexpected moments. And yes, there in the midst of it all is God and His enormous capacity to love.

May your Christmas be a joyful celebration. May your life be filled with peace and love. May your heart know peace. May your pain and sorrow be replaced with comfort and joy.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

I took almost 600 photographs on my Grand Canyon trip. More than half were digital images. I whittled it down to 133 images for your viewing pleasure.

[Photos currently unavailable]

View the images here.

In the course of my day, I have learned how insects breathe and about subatomic particles. I have an odd but somewhat interesting job.