www.MontanasTrailhead.com

Swiss glacier has been receding for some years.

Apparently the good villagers of Fieserchertal and Fiesch have been praying since 1678 that this Swiss glacier not flood their town with its continued growth. Being Swiss, their prayers have, of course, been finally answered. That looks like a path down the middle of the glacier.

But now they are petitioning Pope Benedict XVI to allow them to revoke their centuries-old vow to live virtuously if God would prevent the glacier from growing. They are hoping to persuade the Pope to add his prayer against global warming so that it will not recede any further.

I’m not sure if they have agreed to continue to live virtuously if this new prayer is answered or not. I’m wondering if this is in the rule book, as it seems to me they are asking for exactly the opposite of what they have long been praying for and then when their prayers are answered they are changing their plea. This is chutzpah of a high order. I fear this will not come to a good end.

Brought to our attention by American Papist, a very useful blog.

Here’s a little info about Montana glaciers. 

About 12,000 years ago, the valleys of western Montana lay beneath a lake nearly 2,000 feet deep. Glacial Lake Missoula formed as the Cordilleran Ice Sheet dammed the Clark Fork River just as it entered Idaho. The rising water behind the glacial dam weakened it until water burst through in a catastrophic flood that raced across Idaho, Oregon, and Washington toward the Pacific Ocean. Thundering waves and chunks of ice tore away soils and mountainsides, deposited giant ripple marks, created the scablands of eastern Washington and carved the Columbia River Gorge. Over the course of centuries, Glacial Lake Missoula filled and emptied in repeated cycles, leaving its story embedded in the land.

Flood Facts:

• The ice dam was over 2000 feet tall.
• Glacial Lake Missoula was as big as Lakes Erie and Ontario combined.
• The flood waters ran with the force equal to 60 Amazon Rivers.
• Car-sized boulders embedded in ice floated some 500 miles; they can still be seen today!