When we look around at our world these days we see a crisis in every corner. The Middle East is filled with strife and in Japan thousands are without homes, power, and their normal way of life. 

It shows us through our abundance of communication channels, just how connected we all are. We don't read about what is happening hours later or days or weeks later, we have immediate news of these events. People's faces from half a world away are before us just as videos of friends.

While we may feel helpless in the face of such adversity, I believe that because we are so connected visibly with others far away, that we see each other with new eyes. So that when we send heartfelt wishes of help, or provide a donation, we are seeing a face and hearing a voice as well in our mind. We are seeing in our mind someone that we viewed or heard on television, or someone we read about in the newspaper. This brings us closer together as a world community. We are no longer isolated. Dictators in the Middle East who thought that they could isolate their people under a belief system were mistaken. The world is connected. People could see and reach for what they wanted, they could see that there are other ways of life and living.

The orderliness of the people during the profound disasters in Japan show us patience. They wait in a line, they are not in a panic. My friends who lived there for 20 years say that they will get through this and come alive again, just as they did before. They have lived through tragedy and disaster before, and survived and thrived.

And so when we look at our world, we see hope as well as tragedy and strength and courage. It is inspiring and it is something to be grateful for that we can connect with others in ways that we never would have imagined even 10 years ago. Our world is shrinking every day and we are becoming less and less independent and more and more knowledgeable about our neighbors across the globe.