a little hope

This week has been quite extraordinary. The earthquake in China has hit everyone here even in Israel. Not only have the friars here shown concern and compassion; actually the first person to come up to me and asked if I had relatives affected in Sichuan was our cook Khalil. He spoke of his sadness. People living around my area has also shown such concern, the first question always if I had any friends or relatives affected by the earthquake. Then they would express their sorrow and shock at the terrible tragedy and offer prayers. Yesterday a friend from a Brasilian TV crew called to ask the same thing. It was very touching. She said "I want you to know that we feel very close to your people right now and we are praying for you all." This tragedy has shown me the hidden goodness of people here in this war torn country - they still find a place in their hearts to weep for others' sorrow while they suffer they own pains. There is something good in everyone - and from this, there is hope for our world.