Volcanic Beauty

Nathan bedding down on Nevado del Ruiz

Nathan and I had the opportunity to visit the Nevado del Ruiz this weekend. Nevado del Ruiz is an active stratovolcano. In recorded history, explosive eruptions by stratovolcanos have posed the greatest hazard to civilizations. It was dark by the time we reached our mountain destination and we could not see clearly the surrounding spectacle. We camped about 2000 meters below the summit of this terrible but beautiful land mass that juts out from among other mountains in this part of the Andes range. We arrived after the park was closed and were doomed to sleep crowded in the little car we drove in. But, by the grace of God, we were invited to pitch our tent on the patio of a little hostel; a very small hotel that resembles a bed and breakfast yet is specially primitive and rustic in comparison to the popular bed and breakfast places we are accustomed to in the US.

Volcano Nevado del Ruiz

Monday we woke to a fresh but cold and wet morning. There was something mysterious as I relished the beauty of the surrounding landscape. I could not understand how the countryside could be so lush with plant life since it was a very cold place! In Ohio, the flowers and trees went into hibernation for the winter. The anticipation for the stirring of life in the spring is a cherished time for northerners as the faces of early blooms from the Bradford pear tree buds and the crocuses peek out at the sun warming their faces. With the awful view of Nevado del Ruiz in the distance, the fauna, moss and rock formations surrounding us kept my visual senses alive with curious up close and far away examination of detail. After wondering how such rich vegetation could thrive in this harsh environment I realized the cause of this unique beauty of creation. The hot volcanic thermals lying a short distance below the surface of the earth’s crust cause the hardy fauna to flourish bringing colorful splendor to the surrounding scenery.

New types of flora and fauna proclaimed the work of art from our Father’s hands. Some spots looked like the ocean floor pictures seen in geographic magazines and documentaries. Mosses of red, green and white spread serenely over rocks and other surfaces. Hardy blossoms of yellow, orange, purple, pink, white and other interesting variants of the color spectrum were everywhere. Some were large and bushy growing from the rich black soil. Others were very small, clinging to the wet rock surfaces. There were odd looking palms that resembled cacti and bushes bearing broad and narrow multicolored leaves of lighter moss greens to yellowish greens to deeper forest greens. Trickling streams of water tumbling over rocks and sandy soil made their way through aqueducts or over the edges of cliffs and rock forming tiny as well as great waterfalls all over the mountain sides. The richness of colors this volcanic environment offers a majestic display of the fascinating artistic mind of God.

But this exhibition of nature seen by the physical eye can be dangerously deceiving. The nonchalant soul who is unaware of the boiling hot molten rock, ash and gas just below the earth’s crust would not fare well if the volcano decided to blow its top. Nevado del Ruiz is an active volcano. And like the beauty decorating its surface it is an equally ominous display of God’s creative hands. Scientists watch its activity closely, especially after its last devastating explosion.

A whole city was wiped out by a lahar in 1985. A lahar is a mudslide composed of volcanic debris and water caused by an eruption. Following is an account from an eyewitness who along with thousands of others was unexpectedly surprised by this disaster and mayhem.

After nearly a year of minor earthquakes and steam explosions from Nevado del Ruiz, the volcano exploded violently on November 13, 1985. The initial blast began at 3:06 p.m., and two hours later pumice fragments and ash were showering down on Armero. However, the citizens of Amero remained calm. They were placated by reassuring messages from the mayor over radio and from a local priest over the church public address system. Nevertheless, the Red Cross ordered an evacuation of the town at 7:00 p.m. However, shortly after the evacuation order the ash stopped falling and the evacuation was called off.

At 9:08 p.m., just as calm was being restored, molten rock began to erupt from the summit crater for the first time (all previous eruptions were steam explosions). The violent ejection of this molten rock generated hot pyroclastic flows and airfall tephra that began to melt the summit ice cap. Unfortunately, a storm obscured the summit area so that most citizens were unaware of the pyroclastic eruption. Meltwater quickly mixed with the erupting pyroclastic fragments to generate a series of hot lahars. One lahar flowed down the River Cauca, submerging the village Chinchina and killing 1,927 people. Other lahars followed the paths of the 1595 and 1845 mudflows. Traveling at 50 kilometers per hour, the largest of these burst through an upstream damn on the River Lagunillas and reached Armero two hours after the eruption began. Most of the town was swept away or buried in only a few short minutes, killing three quarters of the townspeople.

A few days before the disaster, a Colombian geology student, José Luis Restrepo, had come to Armero on a field trip. After playing billiards, he was returning to his hotel at about 10:50 p.m., when the lahar arrived. His recollection of events were recorded by Dr. Barry Voight:

“We didn’t hear any kind of alarm, even when the ash was falling and we were in the hotel . . . we turned on the radio . . . The mayor was talking and he said not to worry, that it was a rain of ash, that they had not reported anything from the Nevado, and to stay calm in our houses. There was a local radio station and we were listening to it, when suddenly it went off the air . . . about fifteen seconds later, the electric power went out and that’s when we started hearing the noise in the air, like something toppling, falling, and we didn’t hear anything else, no alarm . . . The priest from Armero had supposedly spoken on a loudspeaker [around 6:00 p.m.] and had said the same thing: that there was no need to leave Armero . . . When we went out, the cars were swaying and running people down . . . there was total darkness, the only light was provided by cars . . . we were running and were about to reach the corner when a river of water came down the streets . . . we turned around screaming, towards the hotel, because the waters were already dragging beds along, overturning cars, sweeping people away . . . we went back to the hotel, a three-story building with a terrace, built of cement and very sturdy . . . Suddenly, I heard bangs, and looking towards the rear of the hotel I saw something like foam, coming down out of the darkness . . . It was a wall of mud approaching the hotel, and sure enough, it crashed against the rear of the hotel and started crushing walls . . . . And then the ceiling slab fractured and . . . the entire building was destroyed and broken into pieces. Since the building was made of cement, I thought that it would resist, but the boulder-filled mud was coming in such an overwhelming way, like a wall of tractors, razing the city, razing everything . . . . Then the university bus, that was in a parking lot next to the hotel, was higher than us on a wave of mud and on fire, and it exploded, so I covered my face, thinking this is where I die a horrible death . . . There was a little girl who I thought was decapitated, but . . . her head was buried in the mud . . . A lady told me, ‘look, that girl moved a leg’. Then I moved toward her and my legs sank into the mud, which was hot but not burning, and I started to get the little girl out, but when I saw her hair was caught, that seemed to me the most unfair thing in the whole world.” — from A. Scarth (1999) (www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Nevado.html.)

We might say, “Oh, this will never happen to us.”… Really? The people of God have become accustomed to the bed and breakfast comforts while underneath our feet the ground is about to give way to destruction of the lifestyle we so cherish. When fellow Christians of late have attributed natural disasters around the world to the judgment of God, the intolerant voice of tolerance has called these claims ridiculous notions from extreme religious fanatics. Even ‘fellow’ Christians are disregarding the seriousness of the sin that so easily entangles us as they attempt to justify with the rest of the world the murder of innocent unborn children, the ordination of openly homosexual ministers of the gospel, concerns of building a comfortable retirement and other popular world views. We forget our heritage and the suffering of those who brought us to where we are today.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; (Hebrews 12:1-4)

There is no denying that we are daily bombarded by extreme religious fanatic ideals. Some of them are very hostile to anyone who does not believe as they do and even believe they are rewarded in the afterlife for killing so called infidels. However, in consideration of historical record, would it not be wise to steer from making the same spiritually disobedient choices of so many that have made history before us?

Some of us continue to stand firm on the solid foundation of the principle of love that naturally calls for God’s judgment. Some of us waffle when the self proclaimed intellectuals ease their justifications for sin into the corridors of righteousness. While we are lulled into slumber, God continues to bring about His purpose whether we are active in the task of accomplishing it or not! Wake up fellow Christians! Beware of the coming destruction!

While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (1Thessalonians 5:3)

A song by Casting Crowns

Oh little town of Bethlehem

Looks like another silent night

Above your deep and dreamless sleep

A giant star lights up the sky

And while you’re lying in the dark

There shines an everlasting light

For the King has left His throne

And is sleeping in a manger tonight

Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping

For God became a man And stepped into your world today

Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history

As a city with no room for its King

While you were sleeping, while you were sleeping

Oh little town of Jerusalem

Looks like another silent night

The Father gave His only Son

The Way, the Truth, the Life had come

But there was no room for Him in the world He came to save

Jerusalem, you will go down in history

As a city with no room for its King

While you were sleeping, while you were sleeping

United States of America

Looks like another silent night

As we’re sung to sleep by philosophies

That save the trees and kill the children

And while we’re lying in the dark

There’s a shout heard ‘cross the eastern sky

For the Bridegroom has returned

And has carried His bride away in the night

America, what will we miss while we are sleeping

Will Jesus come again

And leave us slumbering where we lay

America, will we go down in history

As a nation with no room for its King

Will we be sleeping? Will we be sleeping?