Finding God in Haiti

By Patricia Templeton, rector of St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church

“Then there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.”

                                                                                     --1 Kings 19:11

This verse of scripture has been in my mind ever since the devastating earthquake hit Haiti last week.

In the story from First Kings, God tells the prophet Elijah to stand on a mountain and wait for the Lord to pass by. As Elijah waits, the mountain is buffeted by strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire. But God, the Bible says, was not in any of these natural disasters.

Then there is “a sound of sheer silence,” and in that silence God is present.

In the days following the horrific quake that shook the poorest country in our hemisphere to its core causing untold death and destruction, faithful people of all religions have asked, “Where was God in the earthquake?”

Some, like the so-called Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson, have suggested that God intentionally caused the earthquake because of Haiti’s sins.

Such talk is blasphemous, insulting to God and to all who believe in a loving creator. A God who would willfully cause such anguish and suffering would be a cruel and sadistic tyrant worthy only of contempt, not worship. That is not the God in whom I believe.

So where was God in the earthquake?

God was present in the brief, stunned, sheer silence that followed the earth’s rumbling. God was present in the cries of the wounded and dying. Their cries were God’s cries; their suffering is God’s suffering.

God was present in those who immediately went to work trying to rescue their family, friends, colleagues, and complete strangers. God was present in those who shared scarce food and water with those who have none.

God is present in the rubble and the unmarked graves of the thousands who died.

As news of the quake spread from the tiny island across the world, God was present in the relief workers from every corner of the globe who began packing their bags to go help their brothers and sisters in Haiti.

God was present in the journalists who headed for airports so that they could bring the story of Haiti’s suffering to those who can help. God was present in governments that mobilized for action.

 God is present in those who reached for their credit cards, checkbooks and cell phones to send money to the relief effort. God is present in the young boy who watched the news, then went to his room and came out with $20 to send to the children in Haiti.

God is present in the prayers offered up in churches, synagogues, mosques and temples around the world. God is present with all who grieve and mourn and wait for news of those they love.

Seeing God’s presence in all of these places does not answer the question of why the earthquake happened, or why the people of Haiti have been inflicted with so much suffering for so long.

We cannot finally know why God created a world in which so much suffering exists – from natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis, and from the human evils of war and violence, corruption, neglect and abuse.

 But we do know that such evil and suffering are not what God intends for God’s people.

When humans suffer, God suffers; when our hearts break, God’s heart breaks. 

God was not in the earthquake. But God has been present ever since and will continue in the weeks, and months, and years ahead to be with the people of Haiti, and urges us to be with them, too.