Signs of the Times

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places: Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows. (Mt 24:7-8)

The following video was posted as a warning before the tragic earthquake in Japan.  It makes clear that this most recent earthquake is not an isolated incident, but part of significantly heightened worldwide tectonic activity.

For people of faith, the "signs of the times" -- political upheaval from Madison to the Middle East, earthquakes and historic floods in Australia and Arkansas, mass kills in the oceans and the skies, and the growing threat of food shortages, inflation, and monetary collapse -- suggest a worldwide chastisement.  We have known individuals who have prayed for just such a chastisement that would bring the proud, the purveyors of abortion, promoters of "alternative lifestyles" and the God-scoffing  to their knees, and we cannot forget that God who is merciful is also just.  "That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust." (Mt 5:45)

Like the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II, celebrated in Shelley's great sonnet Ozymandias, we assume the monuments and accomplishments of our civilization will endure forever.  We are learning painfully that lives, great cathedrals, towns and cities can be swept away in a flash.  As we remember in prayer our brothers and sisters throughout the pacific rim, Lent is a good time to rediscover our only true and enduring glory -  as adopted sons and daughters of the King of Endless Glory.