Volcano - nearer than we thought

When I wrote on Monday about 'Whatever Next?' I did not for a moment expect such a dramatic event to occur so soon as the closing of UK airspace due to volcanic activity.

Although the city of Edinburgh where I live is dotted with the rocky plugs of long-extinct volcanoes, such as Arthur's Seat and Edinburgh Castle Rock, it is normally only in novels such as Moonseed by Stephen Baxter that the city experiences the impact of unexpected volcanic activity.

But yesterday evening, I certainly noticed the impact. The distant roar of aircraft arriving and leaving from Edinburgh Airport was missing from the usual traffic noise. My neighbours were sitting in their back garden, enjoying the evening sunshine, and the unusually peaceful evening.

The volcano that has caused so much disruption, even in Edinburgh, as located far away, in Iceland. It must be a dreadful situation for the people of Iceland who have had to leave their homes, or who have been affected seriously by the ash or floods.

The situation reminds me of the time I lived in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan. The dormant volcano of Keelung mountain lies just outside the city and some friends of mine were kind enough to take me on a tour.

In the photo above you can see the crater that has been carved out over the years by the active steam vent. The photo to the right shows my foot beside one of the bubbling mud puddles right next to the track. The photo below shows me standing beside one of the smaller steam vents that could be reached from the track.



The Keelung volcano is a minor attraction in comparison to the volcanism of Iceland or Yellowstone in the USA. My visit to Keelung in the year 2000 reminded me of my visit to Yellowstone with my parents in 1969, and the recent TV documentaries on the super-volcano there. If Yellowstone erupted again, as it has in the past, then the whole of the USA would be devastated.

With our abilities to dominate the landscape, and fly at will across the globe, we tend to forget the unthinking violence of the earth beneath our feet. The people of Yushi in China's Qinghai province this week have suffered the destruction of their city, with hundreds of deaths and thousands of people injured. And it was only in January that 250,000 people died in the earthquake in Haiti, with further deaths the next month in Chile.

Life is short, and can come suddenly to an unexpected end. Jesus invites you to get to know Him now, before it is too late. By his resurrection from death, Jesus showed that his offer of eternal life was not wishful thinking. Life with Him is worth the living, even before we reach that heavenly gateway.