The China Earthquake…Karma In Action ?

By now, we could possibly have read about the actress Sharon Stone's comments made last week during the Cannes Film Festival red carpet interview concerning the earthquake in China : "I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because i don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else," Sharon said. "And then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that karma ? When you're not nice that bad things happen to you ?"

That statement from her stirred a lot of reactions from various quarters with some sponsors/magazines calling for the immediate withdrawal of any advertisements featuring the actress. Well, as in real “Hollywood-styled” response, she apologized the next day but it was a wee bit too late. What does she know about “karma” or rather what has “karma” got to do with the earthquake anyway ? Karma is a Sanskrit term meaning action or deed, either physical or mental in Indic religions understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect (i.e., the cycle called samsara described in Hindu, Jian, Sikh and Buddhist philosophies.

From the natural or nature perspective, the earthquake in China was a result of a fracture in Earth’s rocky outer shell where sections of rock repeatedly slide past each other. Fault occurs in weak areas of Earth’s rock. Most faults lie beneath the surface of the Earth, but for some, like the San Andreas Fault in California, are visible on the surface. Stresses in Earth cause large blocks of rock along a fault to strain, or bend. When the stress on the rock becomes great enough, the rock breaks and snaps into a new position, causing the shaking of an earthquake. With the constant massive and accelerated developments happening in the world, earthquakes are just “time bombs” waiting to explode.

A simple analogy is this : imagine you stay in a huge bungalow on top of a hill with green trees and nice landscapes. Then, a highway is constructed by the side of the hill which involves piling work. Then, the Water Department comes and dig about 5 feet into the hill to lay pipes to supply water to a nearby housing estate. Next, a developer develops a block of condominiums right next to your bungalow and cuts the slope of the hill. In no time, there will be cracks or at least hairline cracks on the walls of your bungalow and if there continues to be more development around your bungalow, in no time, it may even crumble !

So, earthquakes to a great extent are caused by Man and through the years, Earth has suffered a great deal because of Man’s constant development and rape of “Mother Nature”. The Bible even predicts that in the last days (present time), as we read in the Gospel of Luke 21:9 “But when you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified, for all these things must first occur, but the end is not at once.

Luke 21:10 And He (Jesus) said to them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

Luke 21:11 And great earthquakes shall be in different places, and famines and plagues. And there shall be terrors and great signs from Heaven. “

In the past few years, we have seen numerous earthquakes, seen famines and plagues (remember S.A.R.S. ?), happening on our planet Earth. The Bible further states in Romans 8 : 19 - 22, “The creation waits in eager anticipation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” There will be more earthquakes to come as the earth groans for its liberation when the Lord Jesus Christ will come to restore her back to its original form. No more holes in the ozone, no more global warming, and no more tsunamis and we won’t be needing air-conditioning either !

Why does God allows these calamities ? We live in a “fallen world” plagued by sin and these are the consequences of our own doing to a very great extent. For example, if you jump off a 10 stories building, the only way to go is down due to the law of gravity. And, if you engage in sexual relationships with a prostitute with AIDS, you will be infected and even if you repent and God has forgiven you, the consequences of what you have done is that you will die of AIDS. Earthquakes will continue in greater measure and frequency as predicted in the Bible but there is hope as we know whom we have believed (i.e. the Lord Jesus Christ) and He will Deliver us through and even in death we still have the victory as we will immediately be ushered into His Presence.

God does not delight in the sufferings nor the death of Man but at the same time, He has given us the gift of “free will” as human beings. As in the original sin, Man continues to exercise his own free will and live out his life without God in the picture. Most of the deaths of the earthquake in China are that of children and we can take comfort (if at all) that when a child who is still in the age of innocence (i.e. he/she is incapable of deciding what faith to follow) dies, they will be automatically ushered into God’s Presence. Even those who died without knowing God, He is a fair and just God and will judge them very fairly. It is God’s desire that none of us human beings should ever perish as in the beginning in His plan of creation, we are to have an eternal life of fellowshipping, friendship and worship of Him.

For the Christian, we consider our present sufferings insignificant compared to the glory that will soon be revealed to us (Romans 8 : 18). Friend, you too can be His and reverse the curse of sin and decay of the world. Just invite the Lord Jesus Christ into your life and He will be your God and give you life and life more abundantly. I pray this will be your decision today.