Monday, June 06, 2011

An End of the World in 1969

When I was thirteen years old, in 1969, a local pastor in our area convinced most of his congregation to move from southern California to Tennessee. He’d had a vision that a monstrous earthquake would hit California, and that most of the state would end up underwater.

I think I remember that about three-quarters of his congregation left their jobs, homes, and lives in Oxnard behind. They pulled up stakes and moved to Tennessee. Some of the people were rather connected in the community, so it made front page of the newspaper.

A week after they arrived, the biggest earthquake to hit the Tennessee area in decades rumbled through. Could that be evidence that God has a sense of humor?

As I recall, the pastor had no comment.

4 comments:

Kelly said...

That is rather ironic.

Bob said...

I'll ask around and see if there's still anyone here who followed that pastor's advice . . .

And YES, I have learned numerous times that He does, in fact, have a sense of humor!

quid said...

Wow. The power of the suggestion on the believer. And then the irony. Good tale.

quid

Debby said...

How's that song go? No, Kelly, not Alannis Morrisette...

If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans...

I don't understand why people fall for this. Totally don't get it. My Sunday school kids were totally worried about 2012. I told them that the world ends for people each and every day.