No Excuse

Another outdoor stage collapses. And as usual, it is “freak” weather that is to blame. For three to collapse in two years—Alberta in 2009, Ottawa last month, and Indiana yesterday—suggests freak weather is not so freaky!

Watching yesterday’s collapse on television, the twisting and buckling motion of the fall indicated insufficient diagonal bracing allowed the structure to fall. In addition, the huge roof structure provided a top heavy configuration that was potentially dangerous.

Furthermore, these structures are by their nature set up in exposed places to allow thousands of fans to congregate around them. Clearly, standards for their erection are inadequate, although engineers responsible for the design of these flimsy assemblies had the Alberta collapse to alert them.

Of course, the weather can be ferocious, as the recent tornado season stateside has shown. We cannot plan for the unexpected, but three events in two years are hardly unexpected. We can plan for events that are likely, more so those that are certain—death and taxes.

While most of us pay our taxes, I am totally at a loss why few prepare for death. We may be able to evade taxes, but death is inevitable. Why live with the fear of death when Jesus Christ has provided a dread free transition into eternity?

God so loved the world, he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. People around us die daily; we have no excuse to be unprepared for that event.