Mother Nature as Newsmaker of the Year

A popular Vancouver free tabloid has hailed Mother Nature as newsmaker of the year. That sums up the unsuspected weather that residents in Vancouver have gone through this year. We've had long days of sunshine, long days of rain, strong winds/storms and followed by the snow.

The long days of hot weather is untypical of Vancouver weather this Summer. The heavy downpour in November/December led to a "boil water" advisory for more than 2 million residents due to the water turbidity problem. The snow led to havoc in the roads and inconvenience. The storms hit Vancouver extremely hard, resulting in power outages for a quarter million customers. I have not remembered any scary and stormy night ever, since arriving in Vancouver in 2004. The winds hit 158kmph and caused extensive damage to one of the most valuable icons of Vancouver, Stanley Park, where more than 3000 trees were destroyed, and nearly half the park is still closed to the public as of today.

This year is indeed exceptional. Nobody really knows why but in some ways it is a demonstration of how fragile our world is. It might also be God's reminder to secularized Vancouver that all our lives are to no avail if it is not based on firm foundations. The physical demonstration can terrify so many people. Imagine what will happen when the ultimate spiritual and universal judgment comes on all creation, one day. That day will come. We must be prepared.


Matt. 7:27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”