Carol in beautiful BC Canada:

The word ‘gift’ confused me, in reference to earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, and putting it in the same context as ‘personal gifts’ of being offended and hurt feelings, which have often been referred to as ‘gifts in disguise’ (leading to a deeper search for the ‘lesson’, therefore ending up as a ‘gift’). Then I concluded that international catastrophe forces us to acknowledge that those deaths and destruction might be seen as those soul’s “journey” (martyrdom?) to creating awareness for all other complacent peoples of the world. We who are gratefully, and seemingly unaffected, will then respond, or not, within ourselves with everything from prayer to performance – the nudge to awareness that we are of this world, and must contribute to it. The harsh reality, leading to ‘finding it within our hearts to acknowledge, and respond to any of the myriad of our world’s large and small lessons’ is…the…gift.