We have enjoyed the diversity and splendor of Nature, but this country sits in the "Ring of Fire", and we have also seen her dark side...like in the earthquakes I wrote about several posts ago, or...THIS:
On a bright, clear day around the beginning of October of 1999, Pichincha re-awoke completely and spewed this magnificent mushroom into the air. We live at the foot of the volcano, so it was practically in our backyard! It's last eruption had occurred around 1859 (historical records don't always match up exactly), when, with its attendant earthquakes, the city of Quito was almost destroyed.
It was sort of exciting! We never get snowfall here in the city proper; the closest we come is the occasional hail-storm, which paints the ground a brilliant white for a few hours...until it all melts. Now we had something falling from the sky!! Of course, being volcanic ash, it wasn't the kind of stuff one could go out and make "ash-angels" in! Everyone had to wear a surgical mask (or its equivalent) when outside, to avoid breathing in the ash. It covered our driveway to the great depth of...about half an inch!
School was suspended all over the city until the air was considered OK to breathe in, and it was recommended that everyone stay indoors as much as possible, particularly those with a history of respiratory problems. Houses all over the city had duct tape X's (or the equivalent) on their windows, since there were earth tremors keeping the ash emissions company. People stocked up on groceries and bottled water...just in case Pichincha really got mad and decided to bury the city again. (In the early 1660's, the volcano erupted and covered Quito with about a foot of ash. Of course, Quito was a lot smaller back then, but still...)
Pichincha has more than one peak, and the one with the crater is tilted away from the city, so the lava boiled its way down the other side...thank God! Only two people died, and over 100 were injured, but mainly from things like falling off their roofs as they were trying to clear the super-heavy volcanic ash before it piled up high enough to break through!
The mountain continued to "cough" and "burp" off-and-on over the next few months. At times we had to cancel activities because the ash-fall was heavier. Our kids came down for Christmas, and they just barely squeaked into the airport before it was closed because of reduced visibility.
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Although I doubt you'd find the word "volcano" in the Bible, there are what seem to be descriptions of their activity, like in Psalm 97:5, which says "The mountains melt like wax before the Lord...". I wonder if the Children of Israel, out in the wilderness, thought at first that they might be experiencing a volcanic eruption.
Exodus 19:18 says, "Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently..." (Exodus 19:18) I'd say they probably (even if not right away) realized that the mountain acted like that only "because the Lord descended on it". (If it had been a volcanic episode, it seems to me that Moses wouldn't have been able to ascend to the top of it to meet God. He'd have burned to death or suffocated in the ash and smoke!)
Natural disasters can come on us unannounced, (as well as unnatural ones!) but there's not a single one that can negate the words from God's compassionate heart: "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed." (Isaiah 54:10) (I know, I used this verse in the post about earthquakes. Isn't is awesome?)
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God's awesome!! Besides getting our kids in just before the airport closed, He performed an out-and-out God-move to get them here, one of those things that are too cool to be just a coincidence. I'll tell you about it next time!
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