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As
you read this the South-East Asian Tsunami disaster will have almost disappeared form the news headlines. But I suspect that, like me, some of the images will stay in your mind for a very long time, if not for the rest of your life. 
Some
will have moved you to tears on many occasions, especially the utter misery
in the eyes of the orphaned children. The pictures of the missing, and the total devastation for as far as the eye could see.
I
was lucky. I didn’t have any family or friends caught up in this tragedy.
Even so, I still have trouble trying to assimilate the enormity of what happened
– despite the fact that I’ve been studying what are loosely termed
Earth Changes 
for a few years now. Having that knowledge I should have been
prepared for what a large tsunami is capable of doing, but I wasn’t. Instead,
I was completely stunned.
Many
will be asking: 'Why, and What Next?' Well, on a practical level
we know why, we know all about the geological causes, we know the survivors
are being helped, and will eventually start to re-build their lives and their
shattered communities. But not without the aftermath becoming politicized, and we’ve already seen minor conflict breaking out. In the first couple of weeks we realised what a global society we really are, and we all wanted to
do something to help.
But for many it has been a huge test of faith, regardless of what religious conviction we may hold, be it a recognised, mainstream faith, or atheism, or paganism. The event has served as a global 'wake-up' call, and it has also highlighted the fact that we now outpace our government in how we respond – it’s they who had to play catch-up.
As
for the 'Why' in terms of the loss of life, we can only see that
through our own personal prism of belief. I can only speak for myself, but from
my belief perspective – being a believer in reincarnation – I see
that all those who died did so to show us that we are all one, all inter-connected. 
I think it was Socrates who said: 'Look a the end before you look at the
beginning'. Thus, from what appears to us, on simply a human level, to
be such a waste of life at the end, I hope that the beginning, from a spiritual level, will serve to make all of us more loving, caring, and considerate of
our fellow humans; be they those who live right next door to us, or those who
live thousands of miles away. Let’s work together to make the world a
better place for the souls of all those who were lost to return to.
My
New Year's wish from this disaster is that it will serve to make all of us do more on a permanent basis, rather than when we just see these things on the news. 
This year I intend to stop smoking and to donate the cost of a couple
of packs of cigarettes each week to disaster relief and other types of help around the world.
A
list of all the global organisations making appeals for donations can be found at this BBC page, including links to the various web sites:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4131881.stm
The DEC appeal may have closed, but the page lists many other charities to which
you might like to donate.
The tsunami disaster may be out of the headlines, and off our TV screens, but let’s remember it in our hearts, and do what we can to keep helping.