Mud Cakes and Alarm Clocks

Today’s article isn’t any profound doctrine or statement. It’s an observation or two and of course a lot of opinion.

I’ve been wondering how many of you have made a determined effort in the last week to find your recipe for mud cakes. You read it right MUDCAKES! I’m also wondering how many of you have knocked your clock on the floor trying to turn off that incessant alarm that has gone crazy and simply will not turn off – even though many of us are trying to ignore it.

Back to the mud cakes; the simplest recipe I know is to stir together in a bowl, if you have one, 3 cups of dirt and 1/3 to ½ cups of water. As you read, most of you are assuming I am referencing clean water out of a tap or bucket. Let’s clarify – any water will do.

And that alarm clock that is still ringing – now in the background. Yes, it has been a week, the photos of rubble and terrified faces are now on the third page instead of the front page. It is the third news story mentioned instead of the first, now placed behind another scandal or sensational political tidbit. The blaring headlines are fading and yes life does go on – somehow, one way or the other. It’s that other that I am concerned about.

Again, back to the mud cakes. By now you may have figured out that I am reflecting upon the events in Haiti. And I am assuming you are reading this under the shelter of your roof, sitting on a chair in front of a not-too-old computer. Perhaps dinner is in the crock pot simmering while you read. The recipe for mud cakes is real. It is what many, many mothers in Haiti fed their children BEFORE the earthquake hit. This is what they ate in order to have something on their stomachs. If they were very, very fortunate they might have had a small amount of flour or meal of some sort to mix with it. And now most of the ingredients for this unbelievable recipe are gone or at best contaminated.

This article is not meant to take away from any and all of the help and assistance that has been sent to this crippled country. It’s meant to cause you to take a second and third look at what could very easily and very quickly happen in your/our little corner of the world. Most likely, never to the extent of suffering and deprivation of the Haitian event, but happen it can.

Lo and behold, on a quiet, somewhat peaceful morning it only took a few minutes for devastation to surround an entire nation, wiping out any sense of security that might have existed. It only took once.

Yes, I lived near the epicenter of the 7.2 Loma Prieta earthquake in California. And I survived. I even survived with some confidence and security. It came stealthily on a fall afternoon, and within just a few minutes all sense of security was gone. It only took once.

Once again a huge wake- up call has sounded. Maybe you have some preparedness taken care of. Perhaps you think all is going to be okay or that you will get by. Can you? Will you? Will the ingredients for your recipes still be in place?

My heart breaks for the mothers and parents of Haiti. We can help them, somewhat. We most certainly can continue to beg and plead for Heavenly Father to bless and help them.

But while there is still time and that alarms continue to ring, take that second and third look. Update, adjust, stir in more, do whatever it takes to have your recipes clearly written with the proper ingredients for you on hand.