When The Earth Moves

I experienced my first earthquake three years ago in Alaska.  You can read about that experience here.  It was pretty neat, in that never-been-through-this-before kind of way.  But it was also sort of expected, I mean, I lived in Alaska at the time.

So now I'm in St. Louis.  While there is a large faultline running through this area (and I remember in elementary school in Maryland the big deal made about it - an earthquake in St. Louis would level Maryland was something of how the story went), it's pretty inactive.  You just don't expect earthquakes pretty much anywhere east of the Rockies in this country.

So imagine my surprise when I wake up this morning, and everyone is talking about the big earthquake last night.  Turns out it was a 5.2 in southeastern Illinois and happened around 4:40 AM.  I slept through it.  That's my thing.  I sleep through earthquakes, hurricanes, sonic booms from landing space shuttles, my alarm clock...

There have been aftershocks from the earthquake, the most recent and strongest was a 4.5 at 10:15 this morning.  I was awake for that one, kind of felt like the ground rolled.

Earthquakes, particularly for those not used to them, are very unsettling.  You don't expect the ground to move.  That's why we call it "ground."  We talk about standing on solid ground.  We count on it being secure, solid... and not moving.  When it does move, it throws our sense of "rightness" off.

This is the second time in three months that this area has had its sense of "rightness" shaken.  Then, it was the shocking shooting of people during a suburban community's council meeting.  Then, our sense of security and safety at home was shaken.  It was disconcerting and confusing for many.

And then the earth moves under your feet.  That which is supposed to be stable and secure is suddenly as unsure as a boat on the ocean.  It is disconcerting and confusing for many.  What is one to do?

These events in our lives, and there are many more that happen - from the mundane to the magnificent - provide us opportunity to evaluate where we truly place our hopes, our security, our future.  We have a chance to question what the bedrock foundations truly are in our lives, what is the "solid ground" upon which we set our lives?  That in which we had considered our foundation, our "solid ground" has been shaken - quite literally - where do we turn now?

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

- Matthew 7:24-27