When calamity strikes suddenly and indiscriminately—when buildings collapse and the earth itself becomes unreliable—we are reminded of our radical dependence on mercy, both human and divine. The news today speaks of rescue workers racing against time, of communities mobilizing aid across borders, of the fragile thread that connects us to those in deepest need. Job’s words cut deeper still: in moments when the afflicted cry out, the measure of our faith is not what we believe in theory, but whether we show pity—whether we abandon the comfort of distance and stand beside those who suffer. The question before us is whether we will be the friend who turns away, or the one who bends toward the wound.