Nobody knew when they awoke on Thursday, March 10, 2011 that a 9 magnitude earthquake was priming to strike Japan, or that a devastating tsunami was about to sweep 18,000 Japanese souls out to sea. Fear and panic spread like airborne radiation when officials reported a nearby nuclear plant had been compromised in the grip of the herculean quake. Since Japan encounters one-fifth of the world’s worst earthquakes, is it any wonder they are considered the world’s most disaster-prepared nation in the world? What about us? When a 2.9 magnitude Salt Spring Island earthquake woke us from our sleep at 6:47 a.m. on Feb. 15, 2011, was it enough to awaken disaster preparedness in us? Though Ladysmith boasts our former Rotary Club president, Dr. Alan Lomax, who founded Shelter Box Canada — a disaster relief organization — the unpreparedness of many of us remains nothing to boast about. Floridians prepare for hurricanes by hunkering behind storm shutters; Kansans prepare for tornados by bunkering inside storm cellars; and British Columbians prepare for earthquakes and tsunamis by preparing emergency kits and evacuation plans. Yet is it possible to prepare for other, more common disasters such as financial bankruptcy, family break-ups, life-threatening sicknesses and even sudden and unexpected deaths? Though people of fate say ‘no,’ people of faith declare ‘yes!’ In the throes of disaster the Psalmist determined, “(O God) I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed” (Ps 57:1). Isn’t it time overdue that we become prepared for disasters of every kind? As we build our emergency kits and devise our evacuation plans, let us also prepare for all of life’s disasters by always taking refuge in the shelter of Almighty God. — Rob BedardBethel Tabernacle