Trying to understand

Just like everybody else I hear about the recent natural disasters in Burma and China. Both countries are far away from where I live, so even if the news is shocking, it is possible to ignore it on this side of the globe. It is possible, but it makes me feel guilty. It's hard to imagine what our fellow human beings are going through in these terrible times and circumstances. The gigantic numbers of people killed and wounded, the cities, villages, houses that are destructed... the ruined lives... there's just no way we can ignore this. Just one picture on the BBC website sums it all up for me. I feel awful about all the human suffering in the world and I feel powerless too, to be honest. Lord have mercy on us all.

News update from the BBC: The official death toll for Burma's cyclone disaster has jumped to almost 78,000 people, with nearly 56,000 missing, according to state TV.

Previously, Burma was giving a toll of 43,000 dead and 28,000 missing while the Red Cross and United Nations had estimated a death toll above 100,000.