The Mistake that Changed Boston Forever

About 125 years ago one of the strangest and ridiculously destructive events occurred in Boston's North End: The Great Molasses Flood.

It was business as usual at the Purity Distilling Company. A shipment of molasses had arrived, and it was time to store it in a massive decaying vat. The vat was 50 feet tall and 90 feet in diameter and capable of holding more than 2 million gallons of molasses. But there was a problem with the temperature.
 
At around 40º F, it was an unusually warm January day, plus the shipment of molasses had been warmed so it was easier to transfer. To make matters worse, the day before had only topped out at 2º F, and a molasses at the bottom of the vat had frozen. At the time it did not seem like a big deal, but when they poured in the warm molasses, the small amount of frozen molasses began to heat up. What happened next would shock the city.

This heating increased the pressure inside the vat. The pressure increased throughout the morning until, at approximately 12:30 PM, the vat exploded, releasing 2.3 million gallons of molasses onto the streets of Boston. It was a disaster of Biblical proportions. It was reported that the wave was up to 25 feet high and moved at 35 mph. Once the molasses finally settled, it had ripped buildings off their foundations, wrecked the elevated train, and settled 3 feet deep in the streets.
 
Sadly, 21 people died and 150 were injured. The clean-up took weeks, dyed the harbor brown until summer, and the area was said to smell like molasses for years. This event would change the legal landscape for corporate responsibility and pave the way for modern corporate regulation.

It is amazing how one stupid mistake can cause so much havoc. Tomorrow we are going to see King Saul make, what seems like a small mistake, but the destruction of his choices will be felt throughout the rest of the Anointed series. We'll learn from his mistakes, and hopefully learn how to better respond to God's instructions.

I hope you will worship with us tomorrow, plus we're celebrating a baptism! It should be a wonderful day to worship the Lord.