an apocalyptic glimpse of surreality

Last night Larissa and I played Phase 10 and watched the webcast of CBC's Canada for Asia telethon to raise funds for disaster relief in South Asia. We waited patiently for our desired performers: Larissa got to see Celine Dion; I somehow missed seeing the Barenaked Ladies (it's a musical group, for those not familiar with the Canadian scene!).

At some point in the evening, I was struck by a sense of the surreal. There we were, sitting in our warm house in spite of the cold, watching millionaire celebrities perform over high speed internet--all because of an astounding, speech-defying tragedy that has left hundreds of thousands dead, millions more homeless or otherwise affected, facing the end of their world as they knew it, a truly apocalyptic horror. I smiled wryly at the irony of this, but then, no longer smiling, wondered at the morality of this: is it right to address the reality of nameless, tragic poverty by worshipping at the altar of materialistic celebrity?

In the end my pragmatism kicks in, and I say (to borrow from Paul in Philippians 1) that whether by right or wrong motives, money is still being raised and aid is still being delivered to those who need it. But these thoughts still swirl in my head, undoubtedly fuelled by my recent re-reading of John's Apocalypse, with its descriptions of apocalyptic devastation, economic inequality, and the drunken harlot of arrogant economic prosperity...