HISTORY’S VOLCANIC HOUR

Once, a US Senate Chaplain prayed: “Our Father God, …. in this volcanic hour of history save us, we beseech Thee, from panic and despair” (Frederick Brown Harris). Those words capture our inner fears and longings in today’s frightening world of uncertainties: Terrorism, unpredictable political upheavals, economic turbulence, convulsive natural calamities, religious mutations and realignments, obliteration of moral and ethical boundaries, massive corruption, explosive racial tensions, unprecedented lawlessness, violence and bloodshed. There’s the feeling globally that everything is in turmoil, that nothing is normal anymore, and that no one is really in charge. Never has there been valid reason for the feeling that something unpredictable and ominous is about to happen. Is there any help for history’s volcanic hour? Jesus said: "Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:25-28).—Samuel Koranteng-Pipim