With the Asian tsunami, and churchmen agonizing over how God can permit such a random disaster, now is the time to examine the actions of humans more carefully, before deciding to glare angrily in God's direction. If the relation between God and the disasters of nature seems to be confounding and mysterious, the role played by humans is quite clear. Tsunamis have not arrived unexpectedly. We know they happen. We know where they strike. We know what they do. We know that they can be prepared against. But if we spend time in ignoring this — because it will take sophisticated scientific effort that we would rather spend on our own people than strangers, or because warnings will frighten away the tourism dollar, or because it will take time away from our own time, or any of another thousand reasons (spread quite evenly through the world) why love is inconvenient — then disaster must happen.

Water is made by God, disaster not. The chain that Marley wore in Christmas Carol was forged "link by link, and yard by yard", by each choice that Marley made. Every instant we all spend on what is not founded in love must instead be founded in disaster. We each make our own chain, and we each make the chains that others wear.

I can confidently predict that there will be another "unexpected" tsunami. I can also confidently say that God already has what we need.