His World Rocked
By Tom Wachunas
Today, Thursday, my personal world seems clouded with lots of complaints and very silly worries, my bloated sense of stress and responsibility, errands not done, incomplete projects hanging over my head. A radio report on the WKSU public radio station (89.7 FM) made mention of a report from my friend and colleague, photographer Stephen McNulty. He was riding on a bus in Christchurch, New Zealand on Tuesday when a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit. I do remember praying for him when I first heard the stories and saw film footage on Tuesday evening television news, envisioning God placing a hedge of protection around him. God is good.
Stephen’s photos and accompanying story are posted on the WKSU Radio web site – http://www.wksu.org/news/story/27656. I would imagine he posted on Facebook too, but haven’t checked. These are sobering, chilling images, taken while Stephen walked for miles through the terribly stricken, beleaguered city, himself dehydrated, hungry, exhausted. His account is humbling, his survival gratifying, and his instinctive response to communicate via his gift for making compelling pictures is admirable.
I say ‘humbling’ because whether he knows it or not, his account set my head and heart aright, if only for the time it takes me to post this, but hopefully for a longer while to come. It has made me re-assess what is truly important today, and re-focus on gratitude for what I have in and around my life. My petty anxieties of today are selfish and miniscule when I consider what Stephen has witnessed and is going through. So thank you, God, for my life and for preserving Stephen. And thank you Stephen for your reaching out to our world of blessed “normality.”
Photo by Stephen McNulty, courtesy wksu.org
Yes and amen, Tom. Stephen's story has no doubt accomplished this in many of his friends who have witnessed, through his eyes, such tragedy. As always, thanks for sharing.
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