Karen Rabbitt

Archive | Earthquake RSS feed for this section

The Last Act?

"When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."Luke 21:28

Lately, this scripture plays in the back of my mind, like a soundtrack. Is it my age or the stage of the world? At 58, I'm at the beginning of my last act here. So maybe it's just looking forward to the epilogue, which I'm expecting to turn out to be the play itself.

And yet, the world's play begins to feel like it's in its final act, too. America is in deep debt. Many would have us believe there's only this story, so why not eat, drink, and be merry? Maybe I'm reacting to the pace of technological change. I'm getting tired of Twittering and Facebooking and who knows what the next big thing will be.

In Luke 21, Jesus talked about earthquakes, war, and famine. We're all aware of Haiti's grief. America fights two wars. People continue to starve to death. Those signs are already on stage. And yet, Jesus also mentions other signs of the end. "Jerusalem surrounded by armies"–not yet. "Signs in the sun, moon, and stars" –not that I can tell. Is "fainting from terror" like stress-related heart attacks? Is that sign is already in costume, waiting backstage?

Maybe it's just America's strutting on the stage that is coming to an end. Or just mine. Whether regional, global, or personal, there will be an end. What can we do?

We can lift up our heads to look for our redemption. We can be careful, as Jesus warns, so that our hearts are not "weighed down with…the anxieties of life" so we will be ready. He said he'll come unexpectedly, and yet he also gives us some warning signs to listen to. When the curtain comes down, whether on our life or the life of the world, may we have ears to hear his music.

Father, you, alone, know the time of the end. Please prepare our hearts.

Comments { 1 }

Prayer and Action for Haiti

Father, your heart is breaking with the suffering in Haiti. Holy Spirit, please be manifest among the survivors. Bring your strength, healing, and hope. Jesus, pour out your heart of compassion on the suffering ones. In this tragedy, may your name be glorified above all others. Give your people hearts to weep with the people of Haiti. And convict the IMF and the others to cancel their debts. May your kingdom come. May your will be done here and in our hearts. Amen.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en

From ONE, a world-wide organization serving the poor:

Subject: Take action and help the people of Haiti

Like millions of people around the world, I've been shocked by the terrible events in Haiti.

Only now is the true scale of the disaster emerging. Reports now
suggest as many as 75,000 people may have died, with hundreds of
thousands made homeless.

The work ahead to recover from this tragedy is immense. So
here's our goal: $1 billion for Haiti. That's how much Haiti owes to
the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank,
and a handful of others.

Sign the petition below to ask Haiti's creditors to act quickly and cancel Haiti's debts:

http://one.org/us/actnow/drophaitiandebt/index.html?rc=haitidebtpaste

As Haiti begins to rebuild we can help by lifting this debt.

Together as ONE we can make a difference!

Thanks!

Comments { 0 }

Unshakeable

Twenty to five in the morning, April 18, I was awakened from
sleep by the shaking of my bed. Wind? No. Earthquake. Nothing else shakes a bed
inside a house. Just as I wondered if I should climb under the bed in case the
ceiling fan fell, the jarring stopped. I jumped up to see if my husband, in his
bedroom, felt it. We grabbed each other in the living room.

“Did you feel that?” I
said.

“Oh, yeah. That was a big one. Turn on the radio, let’s see
where the center was.” For central Illinois, it was big. Centered 150 miles south,
it was 5.2 on the scale.

In Reno, USA Today reported yesterday, “Residents here are being shaken, literally, by an
ongoing series of earthquakes, which experts warn could be a precursor to a
major seismic event.” Sandy Jung, formerly a California resident, says, she’s used
to the ground shaking, but not “swarms of them. Not day after day after day.”
Unsettling, scary, irritating at best.

And many of us are enduring financial earthquakes. Foreclosures.
Job loss. Food and gas prices.

It is time to cling even more tightly to the unshakeable
kingdom. The writer to the Hebrews says, “ ‘Once more
I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words ‘once more’
indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that
what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom
that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with
reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’” Hebrews 12:26-29 NIV

To cling to the Creator-King does not mean our worst fears
won’t come true. It means, even if they do, the God who is with us will carry
us through. Jesus’ grip is unshakeable.

Father, Jesus, Spirit, we worship you. We cling to you. You
are our hope, our faith, and our life.

Comments { 0 }