The first time I saw a whole rash of earthquakes on the USGS Latest Earthquakes page, I was surprised to find them centered not in California or Alaska, but on and around the little island of Puerto Rico. I don't remember ever hearing before then that Puerto Rico was so seismically active - but it is. As you can see from these two examples today, more than half the earthquakes listed for this past week were in the Puerto Rico area. Several months ago I looked up on the internet and read some articles about what is happening deep beneath the ocean nearby as well as on the island itself. Puerto Rico and the surrounding area move a lot!
This area is not far from the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean, the Puerto Rico Trench. The Puerto Rico Trench is an oceanic trench located on the boundary between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The trench is associated with a complex transition between the subduction zone to the south along the Lesser Antilles island arc and the major transform fault zone or plate boundary that extends west between Cuba and Hispaniola through the Cayman Trench to the coast of Central America. Scientific studies have concluded that an earthquake occurring along this fault zone could generate a significant tsunami.[1]The island of Puerto Rico lies immediately to the south of the fault zone and the trench. The trench is 800 kilometers (500 mi) long and has a maximum a depth of 8,605 meters (28,232 ft) at Milwaukee Deep, which is the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean.
So why do I find this interesting this morning? Well, I'll tell you. :)
Yesterday in Sunday School I taught the second half of the lesson on the Shorter Catechism for Children question and answer: Where is God? God is everywhere. For the first half I taught the story of Paul on Mars Hill and how he told the people there that God is not confined to idols which are only located in one spot. Earlier in the week, Mel had looked up and read portions aloud to me of some historical accounts of Athens and how it was "covered" in idols, and there on the Acropolis and Mars Hill there were more idols than all the rest of Athens (including, we know, the idol to The Unknown God). But is God confined only to an idol of stone or metal? No, God is everywhere.
This week I taught the story of Jonah and how God was there with him every place he happened to be - at home, in Joppa, on the ship, in the sea, in the fish, in the desert, in Ninevah, under the vine. God is everywhere.
This morning I checked the earthquake page and saw that there were 89 earthquakes there in the Puerto Rico area over the past 7 days. Wow. That is a lot of movement! And I remembered the Puerto Rico Trench and how deep it is (not as deep as the Marian Trench in the Pacific Ocean, but pretty deep none-the-less!) I remembered telling the kids that God was with Jonah while he was in the sea. There is no place in heaven or on earth where you can go and be away from God - God is everywhere.
I look at the earthquake page this morning and I see a list of earthquakes, 89 of them in the Puerto Rico area. I see at least 2 things - God is working out His plan for the earth, moving it, changing it however He pleases and we see and feel the evidence of this. And God is there in the depths of the ocean. When little survey submarines go down into that trench, God is there already. He is intimately aware of every creature that lives in the depths - He made them, He sustains their lives. He is intimately aware of the way the earth is moving and changing at that specific spot - His 'hand' guides it.
I look at the earthquake page this morning and I see a list of earthquakes - yes. But I also see the work of God. And once again I am compelled to bow my head in worship and say,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being."
Revelation 4:11
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
A voice says, "Cry out."
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
"All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever."
You who bring good tidings to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
"Here is your God!"
See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?
Who has understood the mind of the LORD,
or instructed him as his counselor?
Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge
or showed him the path of understanding?
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
Before him all the nations are as nothing;
they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing.
To whom, then, will you compare God?
What image will you compare him to?
As for an idol, a craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and fashions silver chains for it.
A man too poor to present such an offering
selects wood that will not rot.
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not topple.
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
"To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40
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