“Hopium” is a word someone coined to describe the opium-like addiction we humans have to hear what we want to hear, discarding evidence that challenges our hopes. Financial analyst Tim Aka, in his new book End Game Economics (which I examined in my previous blog), puts it this way: “We are addicted to this ‘hopium’ as some have called it. The truth [about an impending economic collapse despite surface appearances to the contrary] is unpalatable and the transformations needed are far too painful for most to consider.

May I recommend a new book to you? Three or four weeks ago I was visiting with one of our guests after the worship service. He and his family from Toronto were on campus with their prospective student. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and financial advisor for the past twenty years. He told me about a book he has written and offered to send me a copy. When it arrived a week ago, I sat down and began reading.

In front of this church where graduation exercises transpire stands a bronze statue of the university namesake, John Nevins Andrews. The skilled work of sculptor Allan Collins, this replica of the Seventh-day Adventist church’s first scholar and missionary is shaped with extended arm and hand pointing outward to a world beyond the church. For years now pinned to the wall of my study is this quotation from J. N.

The still unfolding heartache of the capsized Korean ferry Sewol with its entombed teenage passengers has gripped the world. Reports of text messages and phone calls from some of the  high school students trapped inside the overturned and slowly sinking vessel (though many of the messages are now considered hoaxes) were fresh wounds in a nation mourning the numbing deaths of so many of its promising young. The anguished wail of one of the parents should haunt us all.

On April 1 an 8.2 magnitude earthquake erupted in the shallow ocean floor off the coast of northern Chile. It’s was no April Fools prank. The energy force the quake released was the equivalent of over 30 megatons—thirty million tons—of TNT. For comparison, a 1 megaton bomb is capable of destroying 80 square miles. Imagine thirty times that destructive force and reach!

It has been a month since the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared off the radar screens of air traffic control. With its 239 passengers and crew missing and presumed dead, its disappearance has become the greatest unsolved mystery in the history of flight. For the last two weeks air and naval vessels from a cadre of nations have been combing the south Indian Ocean off the western coast of Australia for any sign, any clue at all regarding the missing airliner. Satellite images of out of focus flotsam on the sea have sent search teams scrambling to confirm potential evidence.

Poor Mary Barra, the new CEO of General Motors. On Capitol Hill for a grilling by a House subcommittee this week, what could she say? Since February GM has recalled 2.6 million cars because of a faulty ignition switch. As it turns out thirteen deaths are now attributed to the defective switch, “which can cause the engine to cut off in traffic, disabling the power steering, power brakes and air bags and making it difficult to control the vehicle” (South Bend Tribune 4-2-14).

Look—I know how uncomfortable it can be, talking about our own weaknesses. But sometimes, in the life of a family or in this case an institutional family, we need to have that collective conversation. And so when the university contacted us about joining with them in a springtime focus on substance abuse, it made sense for the campus church to do just that. After all the Student Movement, our campus newspaper, has just run three major articles dealing with substance abuse.

After all the grey and cold and dreary weariness of this interminable winter, how about something to lift your spirits? Thanks to Susan Reimer, a columnist for the Baltimore Sun, I found out about some new research that has identified just what it is that makes us happy. We’ve all known that experiences produce a more lasting happiness than possessions. But which experiences make us the happiest?

Have you seen the recent video clips making the rounds? I have. And since this blog is called “The Fourth Watch” (the last watch—3 a.m. to 6 a.m.—in the Roman reckoning of night time) and since this blog’s purpose is to track indicators in the world portending the end of this civilization’s long night and the nearness of Christ’s return—I would like to comment on these forwarded web messages that are circulating. The forwarded link is to a YouTube recording of Bishop Tony Palmer.