WE HEARD many people saying this is the worst year ever. In Australia, forest fires killed so many wild animals, like koalas.
In California, fires also raged. Locally, Taal Volcano erupted and a big storm came in summer. Then the corona virus spread worldwide, killing lots of people, causing economies to crash down, disrupting our lives.
It seems to confirm what ECCLESIASTES 1: 2 to 4 says: “Meaningless! Meaningless!” (some translations use the word futile) says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless!
"Everything is meaningless. What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.”
Yes, 2020 is bad. Really bad. But history shows it isn't the worst year ever. The years of World War II and World War I were equally bad.
In 1918. the last year of World War I, the Spanish Flu pandemic came and killed more people in a year than four years of constant warfare. That was a bad year, with mask ordinances and lockdowns too.
Between 1347-1354 the Black Death ravaged Europe, wiping out a third of the population across the continent. Famines followed, and after those, periods of intense political upheaval in many places.
But considered the worst year on record is 536 AD, a year that most people have never heard about.
There was a volcanic eruption in Iceland so massive it filled the air with ash and dust that circled the globe and lingered for a long time.
About 18 months to be precise. And during that time, days were as dark as nights, especially in Europe.
Many places in Europe were shrouded in fog, and those were the good days. On many days, the sun was entirely blotted out so the people lived for months in perpetual darkness. The result was a widespread crop failure.
The temperature dropped by several degrees. It snowed in places where snow hasn't fell since. And in the wake of the darkness and famine, a plague spread known as the Plague of Justinian.
The plague, thought to be the bubonic plague, killed between a third to half of the people in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. So 2020 isn't the worst year.
Nature tends to upset the world every few centuries or so. And that's our present circumstance, but without the deadly volcanic eruption.
But 2020 isn't finished yet. Who knows what else might happen between now until December? Ha ha!
What we should remember is that there will always be good times and bad times. What is important is that at all times, we must always have a strong faith.
This year may be bad, but we are most certain that there will be better times ahead. Let us focus on God instead of the momentary vagaries of nature.
The present crisis is limited, but our God is MOST DEFINITELY NOT!!!!.
