night terrors


A Pilgrimage to the Cross

Walking through Lent with Jesus

Wednesday 30th March

After the earthquake, tsunami and radiation in Japan, comes news of how people are coping with the aftermath of the disasters:

There has been some looting at supermarkets and liquor stores…
Nightfall, without electricity or a fully functioning police force, brings its own terrors. Shoji Yoshiaki, a councillor who is overseeing the shelter, said
“I’m worried about the tension. People are stressed out.”
Several evacuees, as well as people still living in their ruined homes, reported that a burglar has been stabbed during a robbery. There were also reports of a sexual assault.
                                                      Guardian Weekly, 25.03.11

Is this what happens when the fabric of a society breaks down? Is it only a ‘fully functioning police force’ that makes people behave decently to one another? Is being ‘stressed out’ a reason, or an excuse? These people are not poor, exploited, uneducated or immoral- they are Japanese, a culture famous for its self-discipline. Yet when the systems that support their way of life fail, some have begun to act in ways we find shocking, and disturbing.

Why does this happen? What is there inside a human being that makes them behave like this? And what usually prevents it- laws? A comfortable life, with no extraordinary demands? A predictable set of causes and consequences?

Nightfall…brings its own terrors.

Lighten our darkness, Lord, we pray,
and in your great mercy
defend us from all perils and dangers of this night
for the love of your only Son,
our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

                           Church of England
                           http://www.churchofengland.org

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