Pocket of Hope

For me the news started non-eventfully. A text from a friend in Christchurch saying that they'd been hit by another aftershock. They've been having a lot of aftershocks down there since the biggie in September. So my first thought was - oh just another shake.

But sadly the news proved to be a lot more dire.

At the time of posting this the news is reporting 300 people are missing and possibly dead. A city that was just getting itself up off the mat has been dealt a king hit. My heart goes out to all my friends who are enduring what the media is describing as a "war zone".

However in amongst all of this ugly disheartening news this morning we had one small pocket of joy. Literally. A group of 15 survivors was discovered in a collapsed building. This is a time when we must celebrate small miracles like this. The world can be a dark place but if you look closely you'll see patches of light so beautiful it can bring tears to your eyes.

Celebrate today by taking someone you love in your arms and telling them how much they mean to you.

***UPDATE***

Sadly this report about the 15 survivors has proved to be incorrect. I think part of us as human beings clings to things like this in the false hope that it must be true. That in amongst the carnage there has to be stories of miracles. There must be. The truth is there are stories of survival all over the city sadly the media is too busy filming the blood and reporting the misery. There have been stories of heartbreaking tragedy I know but there is light people were being rescued from buildings on a hourly basis for a while there. Let's not forget while the bad news fills our screens there are countless untold stories of people who have found their loved ones alive and have held them in their embrace tighter than they did a few days ago.