Warning

The many facets of Mt. St. Helen's eruption
are a focus of continuing study.

The month of May is here; fog, wind and rain. it seems as if hurricane season will arrive unexpectedly and be abnormally strong. We have already endured day after day of mid-west storms and tornadoes, tore everything up as sustained explosions blasted away homes and cars and lives, without end.

Mount Saint Helens is remembered for its symmetrical beauty, and the catastrophic explosive eruption that blew away the side of the mountain in a monumental  landslide that uncorked the violent magma within and raced out over the countryside in every direction, while at the same time, a pyroclastic flow ripped through the surface of the countryside, erasing entire forests and stripping everything for miles. Fifty seven people died in the event. and millions of dollars of property were laid waste far and wide. 

I was living in Kelso, Washington at the time, and remember these things vividly as the mountain's glaciers were melted into oblivion by the hot ash, and rivers originating on the mountain tore through river basins all the way to the Columbia River, so that it became necessary for ocean going ships stranded by the flow of mud, to wait for the chanels to be dredged. On that day, May 18th 1980 around 8 am, ash exploded into an eruptive column straight up  in the air for miles. Only a few other volcanoes in the world surpassed that eruption, and they were responsible for thousands of deaths and tsunamis. 

It is hard to say whether our sinfulness was responsible for any part of these things, or whether it was simply an act of nature that happened on the human scene. I remember the fear I felt as we were warned of flooding from the rivers and torrents of water mixed with ash, as I was living in an apartment near the Cowlitz river. two weeks after the eruption, there was another lesser eruption which blasted ash up and over the countryside, covering everything in ash mixed with spring rain. The weight of ash in gutters caused the gutters to be ripped off the sides of buildings. As the rain passed, warmer weather arrived, and the ash blew everywhere inside or outside. Powerful jets of water were used to clear the ash, but it remained in the air as very fine dust for sometime afterward. It looked as if it had snowed, yet it was not white, but dull grey.

Trees are springing up  in the blast zone, fish have returned to Spirit Lake, and herds of elk have found their way back. The old forest is gone, fallen on the ground stripped of limbs and needles, laid in neat rows by the force of the wind in the blast. Yet wildflowers have returned, and tiny animals.

Much was learned in the explosion of the mountain. Mt. St. Helens periodically erupts violently, so we have not seen the last of the mountain's violence. Three mountains in the Cascades form an ominous triangle; Mt. St. Helens, Mt Adams, and Mt. Rainier, which rises over 14 thousand feet, some fifty miles or more from Seattle. Very little warning can accompany the eruption of these  peaks, and little opportunity to flee are available.

Life continues, and we are warned about our sins, so that we always have an opportunity to change our ways. God waits for us to change and helps us prepare for what is awaiting us. His love is our shield, but it is one that can help others as much as us.