Like many others I’m sure, I’ve been increasingly drawn to focus on the skies this Fall. You’ll never guess what’s coming next. Just the past week, on Thursday October 25, all of a sudden it felt like summer’s returned with the noonday temperature hitting mid-twenties celsius after a cold September of single digit temperatures left many wondering why Fall felt more like winter. However Thursday turned out to be a hot one-day affair. The next day the temperature plunged all the way back to single digit.

However in Toronto there was another excitement in the sky on October 25 at sunset, at 6.18 pm to be exact emerged the shining phenomenon “Torontohenge”, sending the city’s shutterbugs scrambling to get a good shot at it. For Torontohenge offers an exceptionally brilliant breathtaking clear view of the sun at the end of the city’s long streets. However to get a good picture of Torontohenge is not an easy accomplishment. Imagine it’s like aiming to shoot at the blinding flash of a luminous fireball. Many photos of last week’s Torontohenge are now online and I’m sharing here below one of them which I like best achieved by blogger/photographer Shawn Micallef.

And how does Torontohenge come about ? It occurs when the sun rises or sets perfectly along with the city’s east-west street grid.This happens at the summer and winter solstices and so as with solstices the date varies from year to year. In Toronto most frequently Torontohenge has been sighted in mid-April, in October between 23rd and 25th day of the month and in mid February. The name Torontohenge is derived from Britain’s famous Stonehenge where the sun aligns with the stones on the solstices creating stunning visual effects of light and shadow.

Now after all that excitement simmered down over the weekend, I was least expecting to be hit on Monday evening by horrific reports of hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Sandy, described by National Post as “one of the biggest storms to hit the U.S.” targetting the big population centers New York, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, has forced the closure of New York Stock Exchange this week and disrupted the U.S. presidential election campaigns on top of wreaking widespread destruction of property, livestock, death of animals and claiming human lives. Superstorm Sandy is said to have morphed from hurricane into a winter cyclone in a National Post article accompanied with vivid photos  – a fine piece of photo-journalism.

Although I’m now some distance north of Sandy’s primary targets, nevertheless I’m certainly experiencing the tail-brush of it in the velocity of the wind and hard-hitting rainfall all over South and East Ontario throughout these past days. A few tragic events have befallen at the same time closer to home – one which struck me poignantly here in Toronto,  news of a tragic “accident” I call it for want of a better word –  a lady shopper’s life simply ended on October 29 when she was hit by a falling shop sign ripped off by the gusty wind. I feel deeply sorry for her loved ones and family but there was no mention of them in the newspaper. I guess it’s too painful and inappropriate for the press to press them for an interview at this moment. So all this stirred me to reflect how suddenly and swiftly a sweeping change can break into our quiet lives. Then, all of a sudden, the phrase “in the twinkle of an eye” hopped out from the Word of God into my mind’s eye. Our lives are indeed transcient – the Bible brings to mind a metaphor of human life  “as a vapor” – yes, that’s the ultimate Word of Truth and Wisdom.

And after looking at the pictures and reports of death and devastation from the storm, of million-dollar houses, cars and boats smashed by the wind, the question arose within me : Is there anything in this world we can cling to ?

Yes only one thing. The answer came in the words of Jesus: “Heaven and earth shall pass away : but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven …..Take heed, watch and pray: for you know not when the time is.”

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Reader Comments

Moreen Ng writes:  Thanks Nellie for the update. Yes technology has advanced by leaps & bounds but natural disasters cannot be avoided. Only we have to trust God because He alone knows what His plans are for us. I agree with u that we need to rest on His word. Let’s pray for the world that has quite forgotten who God is & pray for all those who are suffering now. May God’s hand be upon the leaders of the world that humanity & wisdom will prevail.