reality: like a ton of bricks.

Do you ever have those moments when suddenly, your concerns and “problems” are exposed for what they are?  Insignificant blips in the reality of what goes on in the world every day?

I’m talking about the devastation that Typhoon Haiyan has caused in the Philippines.  It’s heart-wrenching.  So many lives lost, so many families torn apart.  People are dying from broken limbs – they have infections because their injuries have gone untreated for over a week.

This video, which I saw posted on Facebook, hit me hard this morning.  I’ll warn you, it’s emotional.

I know for some of you this may seem like old news.  The typhoon hit over a week ago.  But I don’t usually get the opportunity to watch the news.  Lately I have been running early, at 4:30 am, and I have turned on the TV to CNN to get a bit of the daily news.  Even that news is “light” and seems superficial.  Morning newscasts seem to be more about entertainment than in depth coverage.  So when I finally got a chance to see Anderson Cooper last night, and saw what is really happening there, I couldn’t help but start to feel like I should do something.

And then the video above, with those families that have lost their loved ones, mothers who have lost their children.  I couldn’t sit back and do nothing.

While trying to figure out what would be the best way to contribute, I learned that the Philippine government, with rampant corruption, may be taxing donations.  Taxing them.  The government is taking a cut of the money that is intended to help people.

So today, I made a donation to Doctors Without Borders.  This is an organization that can, and will, help the people of the Philippines. By helping them, I can help the people of the Philippines directly. Click here to see a CNN article about the organization.

I don’t want to tell you to donate.  That’s not my place.  But when I sat down to write about my run this morning, I just couldn’t bring myself do it.  My heart aches for the mothers searching for their children’s bodies.  My soul cries out for the children missing their mothers.

My run seems so trivial in comparison.