I wrote this late in June, but forgot to send it.  It’s worth posting, even now.

As a mind control subject, I have a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to government announcements, but not all of them.

On Monday, 11 earthquakes were detected around a relatively small area in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.  By coincidence, my daughter and granddaughter were in Alaska at the time, where my daughter was working in a salmon factory and sharing childcare with other workers.  They were in a small town at the mouth of a river that flows out where the Aleutians meet the mainland.

But by another coincidence, I happened to learn about the earthquakes and begin following the headlines exactly when the number of quakes was counting up from 3 to 5 to 8 to 11 – all in a quick one hour – and when the most alarming warnings were being issued:  tsunami warnings for not just the Aleutians but for the entire coastline all the way down to northern California.

Later, of course, the tsunami warnings would be downgraded to an alert, and eventually the tsunami produced a wave no more than 7 inches high!  But at the time I heard the news, the warnings were at their most alarming.

If northern California was threatened, it seemed obvious that their location would certainly be.  Imagining people leaving the factory and heading for high ground, I wondered why my daughter didn’t let me know they were heading to safety.  I thought of calling, but didn’t want to add to the chaos I imagined they must be experiencing.

I thought of going to a quiet place to pray, but I was transfixed by the news.  I prayed and wrote others asking for their prayers, while watching a USGS site and a few others.

Eventually, exhausted, I left the computer and went about normal chores – but in a state of numb shock.

By 11 that night, I received an email from my daughter:  We’re all fine.  Hardly felt a thing!

Returning to the government websites, I saw the downgraded alert, the estimate of a tsunami of only a few inches, and realized that a tsunami would take 6 hours to get to their coastline, even if it were serious, plenty of time to evacuate.

I’d been mesmerized by bad news.  And the news wasn’t real.

I quipped to my family, “I should have just lay down” – then realized that was no quip.  That was good advice, meaning lay down, pray, and listen.

I thought I was doing all those things as I sat at the computer, but I cannot pretend like that anymore.  Staring at bad news, or any news, there’s no ability to listen!

I consider this an excellent lesson, a demonstration to myself that I can become transfixed by horrifying news, and I need to remember not forget it the next time something shocking happens.  I need to retreat, be still and listen.  Even – or maybe especially – when government websites tell us to fear.