Human Deception

We are living in a very unusual time. There are momentous events going on and through TV and the internet we can see more detail than we've ever seen before.

At the moment we are anticipating a huge cyclone to hit Queensland and wreak havoc across the coast and then for hundreds of kilometres inland.

It's the biggest, most powerful storm to hit Australia in 100 years.

I remember Cyclone Tracey which devastated Darwin in 1974. As I recall there wasn't much information before the cyclone arrived and for several days afterwards there were no television pictures. The city was evacuated and not even the media could get in. It was totally under military rule to maintain order amongst the devastation.

This time we can all see what's happening. The media are able to be there because there have been several days of warnings that this was about to happen. We've been able to view satellite photos and see the wind and rain increasing, listen to stories about the fears of the people.

Yet, despite all our knowledge there is nothing we can do.

It's the same with the recent floods which we got to see live, although thankfully we were spared the images of the destruction in Grantham.

It's the same with the unfolding political upheaval in Egypt.

Situations which we once heard about from a distance we now see nightly and in increasing details in our lounge-room.

Apparently it's only a matter of time before we get it all in high definition 3D.

This all causes a distress in our hearts, I think. We feel like we belong there in the thick of the suffering, and yet we are able to flick the channel and watch the cricket then flick back for an update.

We feel like we are right there, right with it all.

And yet we remain helpless to do anything. We can't run around and tie down tarps or rescue people or lift stuff to higher ground. We certainly can't tell the winds and waves to be still. Our adrenaline is raised by the immensity of the situation, but our ability to do anything isreduced to sitting helplessly by and watching.

Our culture constantly tells us we can and should be in control of our destiny.

But despite the ever-present media, our real level of control is about zero.

And there's the deception.