Disaster can bring out our best

This is my third trip to Christchurch following the devastating earthquakes there and before that I worked in Chile after the earthquakes there.

As a loss adjuster my work involves helping to sort out insurance claims arising from the damage so I am coming in behind the event.

Nevertheless I get close enough to see and feel something of the suffering and distress.

It is humbling to stand on the beach where the tsunami swept in, killing many, or to talk with a New Zealand colleague whose brother was killed in the February 2011 earthquake.

Yet it is at times like this we also see the best in humans.

The brother was trapped under a beam in a position where rescue was impossible because of the risk of further collapse yet a rescue worker stayed with him for many hours at great risk as the aftershocks continued, keeping him comfortable until he eventually died.

Such actions of heroism are difficult to explain in purely scientific terms particularly when contrasted with the selfishness and wickedness we so often see and experience around us.

My belief as a Christian is that we are made in the image of God and share some of His character which we see glimpses of in such actions.

Yet it is only through the saving grace of Jesus that we begin to realise our full potential.

David Martin is one of the leaders of Kings Community Church meeting at Onslow St Audrey School in Hatfield.

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