Panic in Peru

It all started out as just another run-of-the-mill Saturday night for the residents of the sleepy little Peruvian village of Carancas.

But then, all of a sudden there arose such a clatter, they all sprang from their beds to see what was the matter. And what to their wondering eyes should appear? No, it wasn’t some plus-size guy in a sleigh with eight tiny reindeer. (It’s too early for that.)

Some looked up and saw the bright streak of light that flashed across the night sky. Others heard or felt the loud thud generated at the moment of impact. What could it be?

"Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…it’s…a meteorite!"

BANG! All of a sudden there was this huge, smoldering crater in the earth some 40 to 50 feet wide and some 12 to 20 feet deep…a deep earthen cauldron with an even larger capacity than Venezuela’s new world record-setting stew pot! (See previous blog.)

Faster than you can say "Rosanne Roseanna Danna," the remote little town of Carancas, Peru was on the map. Its newest landmark—a great big hole in the ground—had become an overnight sensation, the focal point of an international media frenzy. Early news accounts originating from the area told of numerous local residents suffering from a variety of sudden and inexplicable illnesses. Some observers began to speculate that perhaps the crashing meteorite had emitted dangerous noxious fumes from outer space that could prove detrimental to human life. Exaggerated reports suggested that as many as 600 people had fallen ill, although later reports significantly reduced that number to somewhere around 30. The latest word on the “sickness”, however, is that it was probably psychosomatic, the result of a case of mass hysteria spurred on by those earlier reports of a “mysterious illness,” not to mention a general anxiety among the populace about large unfamiliar objects falling from the sky.

In other words, the illness was largely in people’s heads. They had become so frightened that the meteorite was going to afflict them with some bizarre disease, that their own fear—rather than the meteorite—is what caused them to get sick.

People have always been afraid of things they don’t understand. Fear of the unknown (as well as fear of things that are different from us) is a common human malady.

I’m not too much of a science fiction buff, but one of my favorite old movies is the 1951 sci-fi classic, “The Day the Earth Stood Still” starring British actor Michael Rennie and Academy Award winning actress Patricia Neal. (By the way, Patricia Neal is from my hometown. My dad knew her. And I met her years ago.) In my opinion, “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is much better than most of those cheaply-made, B-grade, sci-fi flicks of the 1950s. (You know the kind. The ones with giant ants running around and terrorizing a town, and so forth.) In “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” a benevolent alien from a distant planet (Michael Rennie) comes in peace, offering advice and assistance to the human race. This mysterious visitor from another world (along with his giant robot) arrives on earth via a flying saucer (what else would you have expected?), landing his spacecraft in our nation’s capital (of all places). (As the story unfolds, one wonders if it might not have turned out much better for him had he chosen to land in a remote Peruvian village.) The alien visitor is greeted with a response of mistrust and violence, bred by an atmosphere of collective human fear. He is rejected and suffers a fatal wound, after which he is amazingly brought back to life (for a brief time). He ultimately departs from the earth, his saucer ascending and disappearing into the sky from whence it had come. But not before he leaves the people of earth with a strong word of warning, challenging them to choose the right path for their future destiny before it is too late. Perhaps I’m reading too much into this, but doesn’t this story sound vaguely familiar?

Someone DID come to earth long ago, armed with a message of wisdom, hope and love. He was rejected. He was wounded. He died for our sins (including all our fears and anxieties.) But he rose again victorious over His enemies and over death, Hell and the grave. Then, He ascended back to the place from which He came. But before He left, He gave us a word of warning—we must follow His path, and not the selfish path of discord and destruction, choosing to love Him with every fiber of our being, and be His witnesses unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Oh, by the way, that Someone is Jesus.

A few weeks ago, something unexpected fell from the sky above South America, and those remote Peruvian villagers were instantaneously gripped with fear. What in your life has got you all shook up? Has something recently come crashing into your life, leaving a gaping hole of insecurity on the surface of your psyche?

Remember that God can help you turn that attitude around. The Jesus who said, “Fear not! It is I. Be not afraid” is the same Jesus who can help you to gain a different perspective regarding any threat—real or imagined—that’s seemingly hovering above your head right now.

When that big bang happened in Peru, it sure disturbed and unnerved a lot of people. But you know what’s happening down there now? The latest word is that the local Peruvian officials are hoping to turn their big hole into a “gold mine” by making it into a tourist attraction. Disney World South, here we come!

That’s what I call turning your lemons into lemonade…or, in this case, turning your former fears into a monument to survival and successful perseverance.

And that’s what God can do for you, when you release your fears over to Him.

Pastor Danny