Jim Govatos: Disasters that bring us together

In the aftermath of the recent Nepalese earthquake, numerous stories of compassion and heroism have emerged. One is of a British doctor, Rachel Tullet. In the midst of a quake-triggered avalanche on Mt. Everest, Tullet managed to save the lives of 23 people in spite of suffering from a broken patella, several torn ligaments, and a gaping leg wound which she later stitched herself without anesthesia.

Another story involves a 19-year-old student who led 55 orphans to safety in Kathmandu. He had returned to the orphanage where he had lived and when the quake struck led the children to safety.

I know another man from the Space Coast, Joe Hurston, who traveled to Nepal at his own expense, carrying portable water purifiers to help the people there in need. Thus far, $60 million in aid has been promised to devastated Nepal.

This outpouring of compassion, often at the cost of great sacrifice, has caused me to reflect on one of the curiosities of human behavior: Why is it that the worst of circumstances often calls out the best in people? And conversely, why does the best of circumstances often call out the worst in us?

Let me explain what I mean. When tragedy hits, it often strikes a note of compassion in our hearts, causing us to reach out to others in ways we might not normally. I have seen this in the responses to the World Trade Center disaster, and closer to home, the “60 Minutes” special on childhood homelessness in Seminole County. These things got people's attention and we responded with great generosity. For a moment in time, whole communities and a whole nation pulled together to extend compassion to suffering people. I think it is one of the things that make us fully human.

Sadly, this compassion is harder to sustain on "slower burning" tragedies. I discovered that some 10,000 Nepalese women become the victims of sex trafficking every year. That's 2,000 more people than died in the earthquake. While there are some heroic people out there working to end this sort of human tragedy, it mostly goes unnoticed by the rest of the world. And that is sad because it is a situation we can do something about every day.

Maybe our lack of passion for some of these less-visible tragedies is tied to our own comfort. I have noticed when things seem to be going along pretty well for me, I get more impatient when even small things go wrong. I know I can get pretty finicky if service at a restaurant is slow. I at least get to eat!

As a pastor, I have also seen families fall into decades-long fights over their loved-ones’ estates-money they didn't even earn! It’s just another curiosity of human existence.

Perhaps things like the Nepalese earthquake are large enough that they take us out of our normal routine and cause us to find some things deep inside of us that don't always rise to the surface. We feel, we give for a moment, but all too frequently get back to the regular stuff of life. What if things like this earthquake could push a reset button inside of us and cause us to change direction entirely? The Bible directs us in Psalm 90:12 to, "number our days that we might gain hearts of wisdom." Maybe we should start counting.

I wanted to let you know that I have enjoyed my Observer column these past few years. However, I will be moving to Tallahassee soon to serve another church. Thanks for being faithful readers and I hope each of you will continue to do your part in helping make this part of Central Florida a great place to live.