Volcanic int-erruptions

I could have been writing this from Kenya, but in fact I'm writing it from home, because I'm not in Kenya. I should have been, but because of the air travel retrictions my flight on Tuesday evening was cancelled.

It was a topsy-turvy day. At first it looked as if my flight to Nairobi would be one of the first to leave Heathrow after the closures, and Virgin certainly gave that impression; but the news and media were saying there would be another blanket closure that day. My dilemma was this: should I travel down to London, and risk being stranded there late on in the evening if the flight didn't go, or should I cancel ahead of time and risk letting people in Kenya down if the flight went after all?

In the end, after talking it through with the organisers in Kenya, it was felt I should cancel. I felt really bad about this, but was somewhat relieved when later in the day all flights were cancelled anyway, so there was no way I could have gone. But what a day of uncertainty and confusion.

That particular morning I came across these words in the book of James (4:13-16) by chance.

Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.

I don't know how you feel about the Icelandic eruption, and its effect on Western Europe, but to me it seems clearly another indication that God is speaking to us, and trying to get our attention. So many thwarted plans and so much confusion humble us, and remind us of the uncertainty of life. They encourage us to adopt a more God-dependent style of living, where we recognise the truth that although people plan their ways, it is God who directs their steps.