Fog is damp, depressing and usually
obscures all landmarks, making orientation visually difficult, if not
impossible. While the water content of fog is minimal, the ethereal nature of
the stuff is what causes so many problems. There may be 28,000 tones of water
vapor in a cubic mile of fog, but that is equivalent to less than ¼ inch (just
over 6 mm.) of rainfall over a square mile, (259 hectares) which is hardly
enough to cause major damage.
Fog can blot out so much… Way back 1815
there was a battle that ended the Napoleonic Wars, which lasted from 1803 until
1815. This battle was between the 72,000 French troops of Napoleon Bonaparte
and the English Duke of Wellington
and his 68,000 soldiers. This battle eventually became known as the Battle of
Waterloo and it lasted three days.
On the evening of June 18, of that year, a
man stood in the tower
of England's Winchester
Cathedral gazing anxiously out to sea. At last he found what he was looking for
- a ship sending a signal by the use of coded lights. He strained to see the
message. All of England
held its breath with him, wanting to know the outcome of the decisive Battle of
Waterloo.
So, as he stood in the tower of Winchester
Cathedral our man waited to relay the news that
would determine England's
future. The signal came just as a heavy fog was rolling in. It only just got
through, but how he wished it hadn't, for the signal read: “Wellington defeated”
Florence Chadwick was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. At age 34, her goal was to become the first woman to swim from Catalina Island to the California coast.
It was July 1952 and the conditions were
terrible. The sea was cold as ice; the fog was so thick she could hardly see
her support boats, while her support crew was armed with rifles to ward off
sharks and words of encouragement to inspire her. For hour upon hour she swam
on, until she did something she'd never done before. She quit.
Interviewed later, she told a reporter, “Look,
I'm not excusing myself, but if I could have seen land I might have made it.”
It was the fog that defeated Florence.
The fog meant she was unable to see her goal.
Two months later, she tried again. This
time, despite the same dense fog, she made it. Not only did Florence Chadwick become
the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel, she beat the men's record by two
hours! This time Florence
knew that her goal lay somewhere behind that fog, even if she couldn't see it.
About two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ
fought a battle on a cross at Calvary. His
disciples had followed Him for many years and had been taught by Him. They had
trusted Him as their Master and they were sure that He was the one who would
save mankind. As we all know, He was betrayed, tried and sentenced, and He was
crucified upon a cross. Jesus had told His disciples many times what would
happen, but they just couldn't grasp the fact that their Savior could be put to
death. They were lost in the fog, unable to see their way forward.
As Jesus hung upon that cross, it seemed
that all hope was lost and as He cried, “It is finished”, it seemed a heavy
spiritual fog covered the land and the signal that was read was, “Jesus Christ
defeated”. What a discouragement to the disciples and the world, as their only
hope was put to death. Three days later however, that spiritual fog lifted as
it was discovered that Jesus had risen from the grave. Now they understood… The
signal all along was, “Jesus Christ defeated Satan upon the cross of Calvary”.
And crying again with a loud
voice, Jesus released His
spirit. And, behold! The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
And the earth quaked, and the rocks were sheared, and the tombs were opened,
and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose, and coming out of
the tomb after His resurrection they
went into the holy city and appeared to many. Matthew 27:50-53 MKJV
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