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Natural disasters happen periodically. Geologists and other scientists have been looking closer into earthquakes and the crust of the Earth to try and determine when the next shake would take place. And sometimes, they are able to see it coming and warn the population in time to save lives. But most of the time, they are clueless... When Turkey shook at 3:20 am this morning, the people were not ready. The magnitude of the earthquake was 7.7 on the Richter scale and repercussions were intensely felt all the way down the fault line to Lebanon. I was in the middle of a dream in a different dimension/realm where I was running on shaky ground and didn't have any bouncing hanging chandelier in my bedroom or banging closet doors in my home to realize what was taking place. It wasn't until I checked the frantic wave of messages that I grasped what was really happening. My first reflex was to say a prayer my maternal grandma repeated often and of which I remember only the last sentence. But thanks to Google I can share all of it with you here:

حطيت راسي على فراشي سبع صلبان فوق راسي مد المسيح يمينه تفتحت أناجيله اتزعزعت الجبال طلعوا ثلاث رهبان بطرس وبولس ويوحنا المعمدان طلعت العذراء النقية حامله الكاس والصينيه ياعذراء حني عليه وعلى والديه وعلى كل الشعوب المسيحية وغير المسيحية وعلى كل من تعب وشقي عليه ياعذراء لاتموتيني حريق ولا غريق ولاغريب على جنب الطريق الا موته هنية وقربانه طرية وبشفاعتك ياعذراء النقية. آميــــــــــن

Quotes about earthquakes to make you think:

Every time I witness a strong person, I want to know: what darkness did you conquer in your story? Mountains do not rise without earthquakes - Katherine Mackenett

An earthquake is such fun when it is over - George Orwell

We learn geology the morning after an earthquake - Ralph Waldo Emerson

You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake - Jeannette Rankin

An earthquake achieves what the law promises but does not in practice maintain: the equality of all men - Ignazio Silon

All earthquakes and disasters are warnings; there's too much corruption in the world - Aristotle

Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes - Voltaire

Though the earth may shake, God's love is our firm foundation - Anonymous

About a decade ago, a devastating tremor rattled a province in Iran. I was discussing something with my mother and then blurted heatedly: you know, if I were Earth and humans were living on my back, I would shake them violently off. And keep shaking and shaking until they would all fall off and leave me in peace! To which my mother calmly smiled and replied: first, you are not Earth to dispose of mankind that way. Second, I am glad... Thanks to the wisdom of my mother, I was instantly appeased, blushed, and remembered the essence of what she was trying to tell me: earthquakes rock us, but they represent an opportunity for us to consolidate our faith and keep it unshakable 🙏🏻