I get up and take a minute to check the news this morning as I grab some coffee and get ready for Marketing class. Haiti has suffered another earthquake earlier today. I read the reports and my heart breaks. I can’t get up and fly to Haiti to help (I know some who are), but I wish I could. It’s times like this that should shock us Americans out of our complacency and materialism. It’s encouraging to hear about the outpouring of support for the survivors, and we have to step up and meet the excruciating needs the people of Haiti are facing. DesiringGod has a good list of charities and Sovereign Grace also has a fund for the relief effort.

The media has been having fun playing up comments from Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson about the quake being God’s judgment, possibly as the result of voodoo practices. It isn’t ours to say. Regardless, we are responsible to aid the poor and needy and give them hope. But for those ready to point fingers at an entire nation because of evils present in their culture, Jesus gives an ominous warning. If God chooses to judge a nation for voodoo, He has as much reason to judge a nation for murdering countless unborn children. In every tragedy, the only correct response is sobriety, examination, and willing service. We’re shown grace every day that we don’t face a similar fate, and until we get a view of this grace we will not rightly extend the same grace to others around us.

Update 2.1.2010: Andrew Spalding, a friend and fellow design student from Haiti, recently returned to help the relief efforts. Follow him at HaitiHelpLine.com. Another cause worthy of support is HelpDanita.org, a call from friends Eric and Leslie Ludy to rescue and care for displaced and endangered orphans in Haiti.