Comets

In my many world travels (eight round-the-world trips, passport stamped in 157 countries) I crossed Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Around the city of Irkutsk and Lake Baikal I noticed that most of the older houses appeared to have been partially burned and that the trees had a most unusual appearance. I later researched that this was the location of the only comet activity which has come close to the earth to our historical knowledge.


On June 30, 1908 a comet near-strike on the earth hit in Siberia, known as the Tunguska Event, with the force of about 1000 times the force of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, which effected life in the area for 830 square miles, leveling trees, causing fires, and sent electromagnetic pulses that could be felt equivalent to a 5.0 earthquake. The area has never recovered from this 'close encounter' with this comet.


The other geographical catastrophe I have witnesses was the result of the Krakatoa

Volcano on the island of Sumatra in 1883. The unofficial death toll report was at least 120,000 and next to the recent tsunami, in approximately the same area, the deaths on these remote islands and the destruction of the villages is beyond description. Families die and families learn to smile again, but they never forget the pain and desolation of catastrophe.


I have gone into these two great disasters in order to emphasize the fact that life is a vapor which can very quickly vanish. (James 4:14) This past week, the Libyan man accused of bombing the Pan-America plane over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed a total of 270 people, was given a prison release because he is supposedly dying of cancer. Many in the USA and UK protested his release because in the Muslim world, he will be considered a hero and martyr. One never knows from one minute to the next in this world of high-risk just how quickly we will draw our last breath. And, our last breath here is our first breath there. For those of you who have not taken advantage of the redemption of our blessed Lord, an open grave is not the end of the road.


From our earliest years, we should learn that God created us to be completely dependent on Him. It is in God, and God alone, that we should place our trust. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6


If we knew that we were going to live into our 80s and 90s and would have plenty of time to lounge around and fellowship with the sanctification of God, just awaiting His call, we would be prepared to set sail on our eternal departure. We could lounge in either our belief or unbelief until “castoff” but, like those eight who unexpectedly went down in the Hudson River last week, simply because someone on duty was busy talking on the telephone and not paying attention to his work, death can come quickly and unexpectedly. Be prepared, make sure there is oil in your lamp when the Bridegroom cometh. (Matthew 25) You do not have the warning ahead of time as to just how quickly death can come. Eternal life has already started for the believer; we already have the abundant life. (John 10:10) For the unbeliever, you face the second death because we are told that the unbeliever is already dead. (1 Timothy 5:6) Satan, the greatest swindler and scam artist, has sold the lie that life fulfillment comes in education, pleasure and money.


About the time one reaches middle age, we start making an evaluation of our life, what we have been able to accomplish, how many 'things' we own, how successful we have been, and often, we confuse possessions with success. Erma Bombeck said, “Don't confuse celebrity with success. Think of Madonna and Helen Keller.”


At about the same time, many of us start writing our obituary. We want to make sure that all the organizations to which we belong, our celebrity and notoriety will be mentioned, less someone forgets our hard-working efforts and accomplishments. I knew one newspaper editor who would write a nice editorial of any prominent person who died in the community and after the name, the letters “RIP” would always appear. I never knew him to give any credibility to a hard-working mother or father who, through impossible circumstances, had raised a large family of grateful children.


It is also at this time that many become dissatisfied with their life's accomplishments; the ups and downs that afflict all of us who live a normal life. Many, when the warts outnumber the pats on the back, resort to the final solution of suicide. Life is precious; God planned each life in its entirety before the very foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:4) He is sovereign. In Him, our life is not our own. We are His, Him living in us. This is the reason that we are careful about our every action. I can still hear my mother say to us, “Remember who you are.” This was her way of telling us that we are different from other people. (1 Peter 2:11) Not only were we not to embarrass our blessed Lord, but we were not to embarrass the good name of our family.


During these middle age years, we try to recapture ambition by knowing the 'right' people on the golf course or at the country club. In an effort to “keep up with the Jones'” the middle-aged couple will be more likely to gamble instead of invest in the stock market. Where, in earlier years, they were content to 'get rich slow', they will now venture capital at great risk, the gamble to catch up rapidly. This is the fascination with the lottery and other satanic addictions. Remember the great hotels and casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City were built by losers.


The most blessed time in our short existence here on earth should be the sunset years; the so called 'golden years' when we bask in the memories of the challenge of rearing children. Finding the energy to do everything that young people are expected to do, many lose their health trying to gain wealth and then are forced to spend their wealth trying to regain their health. The golden years are spent exercising and trying every new mineral or vitamin compound, by which we are bombarded by advertisement every day. The orthopedist has gotten even richer with his many attempts to replace all aging joints. Gray power is not always complimentary because gray is dull, like caskets and bad days. During the golden years, it is all on velvet: plush and desirable. It is harder to wait than to work. The work is over; the best is yet to come.


The Russians are charging American billionaires $20 million for a ride into outer space. Relax, if you have taken care of your passport arrangement with our blessed Lord, you are about to take a free ride into outer space, into a place which God has prepared.


“But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9