While
typing this blog, my view across the road is blocked by a horizontal blizzard. In
Alberta, we live in a precarious part of the world that, except for modern technology,
would be almost uninhabitable. Harsh and dangerous weather conditions can erupt
at any time.
Ann and I just
spent a month in New Zealand, enjoying the balmy weather of that moderate
climate; a safe place to live, we might believe. But positioned on the fault
lines of the pacific rim, we felt two separate tremors that had indoor plants
swaying like trees in a wind, and were warned of a possible tsunami.
I wonder
sometimes if any safe place exists in this world, not affected by the faulty
planet we live on. The frequent storms, drought, earthquakes, landslides, floods,
fire and other natural calamities are a reminder of the fragility of life
anywhere on earth.
That doesn’t
take into account the violence that afflicts humankind: war, and murder, fostered
by anger, jealousy and greed; or the plagues of sickness and accident that
terminate life every day. Death stalks humans in every place and at all times on
earth.
Tomorrow is
not guaranteed to any of us. The mystery of history is that so few prepare for death,
when its certainty provokes the greatest pervading fear of life. Only
foolishness can ignore the peace God has made with us to meet Him, to whom we
are all accountable, with joy.
