THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI OF 2004, CATACLYSMIC CHANGES ON A COSMIC SCALE

By Harrell Rhome, M.Div., Ph.D. 

“You never know when your time is coming.  Like birds suddenly caught in a trap, like fish caught up in a net, we are trapped at some evil moment when we least expect it.” Ecclesiastes 9:12.  

CHANGES ON ALL LEVELS

This dynamic, truly cataclysmic and epic event (26 December 2004) will be remembered as long as human history is kept and retold for a number of reasons, some of which have not yet become evident.  Many subtle changes occurred, and are occurring, in addition to the more apparent ones.  The evidence and the results of these more delicate, yet long-lasting changes, will unfold as time (but altered a bit!) marches on. 

CHANGES IN EARTH POSITION

Some like to call God the Prime Mover, a most appropriate name for this cosmic event.  The movement of the tectonic plates was truly earth shattering.  The plates were permanently moved.  This tremendously powerful shift not only caused the tsunami, but also led to several other important physical changes.  The axis of the earth was moved, however slightly, as the tectonic plates shifted into a new position.  The last great event of this magnitude was the ultra violent Krakatoa volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami in an area not far from the current disaster.  Judging by the force of that 1883 tsunami, with its reported walls of 120+ feet of water (the 2004 tsunami was 60+ feet), we can assume that the some of the same things, or even more extreme, occurred back then.  The impacted population was incredibly smaller when compared with today.  Islands disappeared.  Who knew?  There were no seismographs, no atomic clocks, only minimal electronic communications; it took the press weeks to reach the area and weeks after that before stories really hit the papers.  Other than that parts of the world sky was darkened for weeks and weeks in some instances, few people noticed any difference.   Not so today. 

CHANGES IN TIME

This most unusual event also created a change, however slight, in the fabric of time.  As a result, the atomic clocks, kept at key points around the globe, must be reset.  Had you thought of the movement of time as irrevocable or uninterruptible?  Think again.  Do you think that God -- or the Prime Cause or Prime Mover or the First Principle, or however you choose to address the matter -- do you think that God cannot directly act in history, that is, in time?  If so, then perhaps you might want to re-think your hypothesis! 

GOD IS EXTRAORDINARILY AND POWERFULLY MANIFESTED IN THE CYCLES OF TIME. 

While perhaps not everyone will agree, this cataclysmic event certainly seems to prove this metaphysical maxim.  Moreover, we must not be deceived; this was but a mere hint, not even a full blink, on the cosmic scale of events.  More can easily manifest itself; anytime, anywhere.  Think about it.

CHANGES IN THE MAP

All geography books, maps, atlases, and globes are now forever inaccurate.  The tsunami had more than the force of an atomic bomb at several locations.  The earth was moved only slightly on its axis, but much more dramatically on the surface.  Numerous small islands in the Bay of Bengal no longer exist.  Certain towns and small cities on existing islands and coastal areas have been completely erased from the surface.  Other islands, not to mention large swaths of coastal areas, have been, in many cases, drastically reshaped.  As an example of the power and severity of this series of events, the entire island of Sumatra, sitting on the Burma Plate, was moved several feet.  Do you feel safe and secure because you don’t live near the water?  Equally calamitous events can happen anywhere, anytime.  Think about it.

CHANGES IN ANIMALS AND HUMANS

While human bodies were everywhere, only a few dead animals were found, and most of these were household pets.  Wild animals and other animals that spend most of their time out of doors apparently have an innate sense of warning.  Domesticated animals that live closely with humans seem to have largely lost this sense, as have most humans.  Of course, there are exceptions, and soon we will hear reports of premonitions.  And, the intuitional hunches and other forewarnings may be quite subtle.  Over the past several weeks, somewhat curiously and spontaneously, I began three different articles with severe apocalyptic, end-times themes. Was this a “portent”?  Who can really say?  All I know is that I felt more than a little “eerie” when I began to realize what had happened.  Here we enter into the realm of metaphysics and the paranormal.  Humans, at least a few of them, seem to sense things.  It seems thoroughly established that animals sense certain things ever more sensitively than do humans.  Albert Pike, a nineteenth century mystic, hypothesized that the higher animals and humans were more alike than not, saying “In the real meaning of the single thought of dog, all metaphysics will be condensed.”  I think he was right.

“…and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.”                St. Luke 21:10-11.

CHANGES IN CULTURE, SOCIETY AND POLITICS

Even where human settlement was not entirely eradicated, the infrastructure is seriously and acutely damaged.  As so many of the victims were children, an entire generation has been decimated.  As government resources are strained to the maximum by the disaster, political opposition groups -- e.g., separatists such as in Sri Lanka with the Tamil Tigers, Islamists all over the area, et al, including those who want to create a pan-Islamic Pacific republic from the Philippines to Southeast Asia, rightists, leftists, Marxists, et al, ad infinitum -- and other movements as yet unseen, will manifest themselves, for better or worse.  But one thing is certain.  Significant geopolitical change is on the agenda.  [The region remained conflicted through 2006, with significant troubles arising in Thailand.]  This effect includes institutions of all types.  Without doubt, governments are challenged more than ever before, and some will surely fail.  [This was written before the New Orleans and Gulf Coast debacle of late 2005.  Unfortunately, I was correct.]  Full economic recovery will not come for decades.  Most of the cultural and societal changes, like the irrevocable shift of the tectonic plates, are permanent, and their full impact, for better or worse, will not be known for decades. 

CHANGES IN THE AIR – EVIL ON THE RISE!

            “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more.”  St. Matthew 2:18.

            At least one third of the dead and missing are children.  While the actual deaths are sad and unfortunate, what is happening to some of the survivors is even more appalling and devastating.  As soon as the tsunami was over, it seems that child kidnappers were like wolves with the smell of lambs in the air.  And they did what wolves always do.  Curiously, the atrocities began around the same time as the Catholic observance of the Feast of the Holy Innocents, commemorating the slaughter of the young boy children by King Herod, hoping to kill the Christ Child.  Evil is persistent.  

Kidnapped children are usually bound for the sex trade.  A large portion of national income is from the tourist trade.  While most of this is perfectly legitimate, it is no secret that Thailand is a multi-million dollar world center for sex tourism.  Hence, the wolves were already on the edge of the pasture.  And they did what wolves always do.  This should make the world clamor for a quick crackdown with hopes of recovering at least some of the victims, but this doesn’t seem to be happening.  The Thai authorities surely know who the kingpins are.  World intelligence agencies surely know who is behind the trafficking on the international scene.  Why is nothing done?  Evil is powerful and, let’s face it, attractive to more than a few people.  Money is power.  Evil has money, and this is their time.  Wolves are about; in places you might least expect them.  Beware.

“This is your hour and the power of darkness.”  St. Luke 22:53(b).   

CHANGES IN FINANCIAL MATTERS

Some of the points under this heading are obvious, so let’s focus on something about which nothing at all has been said.  Not only will the reconstruction take decades and trillions of dollars, but also tens of billions of dollars will move through the relief efforts, beginning quickly after the disaster itself.  In the never-ending process of electronically moving money about the globe, don’t you, our dear and well-informed readers, see that a window of opportunity has opened for the money moving and the money-laundering crowd?  A window of opportunity has just opened for all kinds of clandestine organizations that will take full and immediate advantage of this traffic jam on the international monetary Internet. 

CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT

The Chinese sages of yesteryear also said that the very worst curse one could lay upon another was, may you live in interesting times.  Without a doubt, we have surely arrived there! 

Although seemingly paradoxical, the only thing that is ever constant is change.  Change is part of life.  Life is change.  Change is creation.  We are creatures made in the image of the Creator God.  Cosmic Creation-Changes are now in process.  In the storms that always lie ahead, help us, Good Father, to find our places to stand and our roles to play.  Amen.

This has been a public service announcement from The Cosmos.

Regular programming will now resume.