Quiet Dignity in the Roar of Tragedy

For the past several days, we have been seeing images and hearing the voices of the Japanese people who endured double catastrophes of a 9.0 earthquake and the accompanying tsunami.  How can these people cope in the face of such tragedy?  How will they rebuild?

What I am struck by most is the difference between us (Americans) and the Japanese.  Whenever there is a crisis here in America, there is a segment of our society who believe it is their right to loot and whine and complain about having to wait for aid.  As hands are extended to deliver aid, there are hands grabbing it as quickly as possible, and they do not care who they step in front of or who they might step on...they must have whatever it is first.

In Japan, the images show the patience of its people.  There was a report last night of an 80-year-old man and his 77-year-old wife whose house was struck by the tsunami, but who were working on it by hand to get it in shape so that they can move on to help their neighbors.  They were not waiting to be helped, they were the ones offering help.

I have never, thankfully, been a victim of a flood or hurricane or oil spill, so I am speaking just as an observer of the human condition.  What in the Japanese culture keeps them so focused?  What in the American culture has been lost?  After all, we are children of immigrants who worked to better the lives of their children and their children's children.  When and why did we forget that?

My heart goes out to anyone whose life and livelihood has been destroyed by an event as catastrophic as the weekend's in Japan and in the flood areas of the U.S. -- whether it's man-made or provided to us by nature.  I just feel that there is a lesson to be learned that we may not be getting.