Did you ever play the game of Mercy when you were a kid? You know the one - where someone pinches you or twists your skin or pummels you until you writhe in pain and cry for mercy. That's how it feels these days. Every time I turn on the news and hear of another earthquake or another tragedy, I cry out for mercy.

There are times in life when I just don't know what to say. This is one of those times. I've largely avoided the news from Japan, because, honestly, I just don't want to know. The devastation...the pain...the suffering...the heartbreak...they're all too much for me to handle.

It's almost as if I believe that if I pretend it's not there, then it didn't really happen. That people on the other side of the world aren't reeling from the aftershocks of a cataclysmic disaster. That the earth's axis hasn't shifted and that life as usual is going on. But, of course, it's not. Life as usual has ceased to exist for more people than I can imagine, and it will never be the same again.

Mercy, Lord, Mercy.

Until next time, grace and peace.