If I had a hat, I’d take it off to the poor news broadcasters struggling to pronounce the name of the volcano that has recently erupted in Iceland. On paper, the Eyjafjallajoekull Glacier honestly looks to me like Carol Vorderman having a drunken moment with an unfeasibly lengthy Countdown conundrum!

Except it’s not that funny. Two hundred years ago, this same volcano spewed forth ash for nearly two years. Apparently, that won’t happen this time, but it’s been the cause of untold chaos across the continent as planes and people have had to stay put.

I currently have a friend stuck in Hong Kong, making the best of it in internet cafes and a cheap hostel, a brother-in-law driving at speed across Germany in an attempt to reach Blighty, and a meeting cancelled because the speaker can’t fly in from the US…

It’s amazing how fragile our world is. I can imagine lots of people across the globe grimly polishing up their ‘The end of the world is nigh’ signs. Wars, rumours of wars, earthquake, floods and epic disasters seem to be on the news all the time.

So is the end of the world imminent?
Should we take heed of the T Shirt slogan I saw a while ago:
“Jesus is coming back. Look busy!”

Well, yeah and no. Looking busy won’t fool anyone of course. The Trinity are pretty smart. Plus, I think they talk alot. But we don’t need the news coverage as evidence of a planet gone awry and our need of a Saviour, do we? Since the introduction of a three letter word with eternal consequences into the world, there have been disasters of siesmic proportions throughout history. The trouble is that word: ‘SIN’, has a deadly centre. That ‘I’ in it’s midst is the poisoned chalice we all drink from. The untold selfishness of every one of the billions of humans on earth is why we are where we are.

That glacial volcano bursting forth, mirrors our own eruptions of greed, anger, malice and lustful immorality. The stench of our behaviour pollutes the atmosphere with filthy ash and offends the very nostrils of heaven.

It certainly made me think today. Is it rather inconvenient to be reminded of the universal ticking clock, or actually an act of immeasurable kindness?

I for one am trying to live today well, just in case.