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.

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.

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.

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.

With the winter Olympic games in Sochi, Russia, nearing their grand finale, you have to admit—the herculean efforts and protracted training endured by these young athletes of the world is astounding.

 5,700 feet underground is enough to stir up anybody’s latent claustrophobia. Although I suppose that if you’re used to being that far down and are doing it for a living (as miners do), it’s pretty much old hat to you. Unless, of course, your way back up to the surface has been blocked, as was the case this week with South African miners in the Harmony Gold mine west of Johannesburg.

You knew it would come to this, didn’t you? You pick up the phone and the cheerful voice on the other end introduces herself as Samantha West. Bright and engaging, she proceeds before you realize it is a soft-sell pitch for insurance. But as she continues, something doesn’t seem quite right. Perhaps it’s the phone connection.