Dear Daughter-in-Law,

Sara, you ought to know that your husband, my son Leo, signed off from his latest email notifying us of your return date from Sri Lanka, as "Proud as a peacock." Well, Papa is purty proud himself. You are literally God's hands and heart in the recovery effort of the tsunami disaster. I suspect what you have seen and experienced has been pure hell.

I don't refer to natural disasters as 'acts of God' like insurance companies tend to do. My faith tradition refers to moral evil and physical evil, and the tsunami falls in the category of the latter. I may have to dwell on the Catholic world view on evil in a later post...

I hope you don't mind that I've been forwarding Leo's emails with reports of your work and wellbeing to your uncles and aunts and others. They have kept you in their prayers and thoughts. I know that your vast extended family has done the same.

Every time I hear reports from the Norwegians who work for the UN I am reminded of all your aunts, uncles, and cousins in Norway. They must be proud also.

Isn't it remarkable how the universe can coalesce into a humanitarian force for good?

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