thoughts on the news of the day: prophesies

hmmm…..

            It’s hard to ignore the earthquakes that have hit our planet over the last few weeks: one in New Zealand, one in our Natural State, Arkansas, and one today in Japan. And the question to ask is, “what does it mean?”

            You can find out lots of fun facts about earthquakes and this is what I learned: A sudden slip by a fault causes an earthquake.  The sides of the fault get pushed together, then pressure builds up, the rocks slip suddenly which causes energy to be released in waves that travel through the rock.  The waves cause the shaking that takes place during an earthquake.  Interestingly enough, it is estimated that there are several million earthquakes in a year.  Most go undetected because they are small in size or are located in remote areas.  The largest earthquake ever recorded occurred in Chile in 1960; it had a magnitude of 9.5.

            It’s easy to jump to conclusions about our spiritual condition when we hear about multiple earthquakes.  Doomsday prophets like to quote Revelations and prophesy the coming of the end of the world: “And I saw when it opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as hair sackcloth, and the whole moon became as blood …”  But when you take into account that earthquakes are recorded several times in the Old Testament even as early as King Uzziah of Judah, the power of prophecy loses its luster.

            No one knows for sure when the world will end.  But for some folks today in Japan, it did.  And probably to their families, it doesn’t matter that the earthquake that hit Japan today was one of millions.  It matters only that someone they loved is gone.  And that might be the end of their world.

            hmmm…..