Managing Our Doomsday Inclinations

May 21^st came and May 21^st went and yet once again, as always, another doomsday prediction has not come true. For literally 1000’s of years there have been prophets of doom, setting dates and getting people all wound up over their predictions of a coming apocalyptic event. And, every single time since these predictions have been made, there are way too many people who buy into the doomsday forecasts. They sell their possessions, they put their beloved pets down, and they get themselves ready for rapture. In some ways I have some sympathy for these folks. Their wholehearted dedication to announcing and getting the word out of coming judgement is quite staggering. I saw on TV, a man from New York who spent most of his life’s savings advertising on billboards and putting signs on subway walls and buses. He spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to warn everyone of the coming judgement. When interviewed he seemed genuinely sad that so many people had not heeded the warnings and just went on with their day. He finished by saying it was still money well spent because it may not have happened on the 21^st but it will happen this year. Which is the sad part of all this. People have been so completely and totally deceived. The final shot of the news story of him sitting in his living room reading his well-worn Bible made me both sad and angry; sad because he was searching the scriptures daily and yet he was completely missing the message therein. The message is we bring heaven to earth. Our faith is not an escape out of this messy world. Angry because once again the good name of Jesus and his many faithful followers was dragged through the mud of lunacy and scam.

But doomsday predictions are not solely generated by religious kooks and fanatics. Science has joined in the march toward the end with predictions of the sun burning out, giant asteroids hitting the earth, a super-volcanic eruption that creates an ash cloud so thick it jokes out all of life, and who can forget all the climate change warnings that roll off the presses seemingly every day, blaming pretty much every single disaster in the world on climate change. The end is coming they warn and the future is bleak they shout.

Hollywood producers have also joined in the collective rant about the end of the world with a steady stream of movies that try to capture through cinematography what the end will look like. The Terminator series, Armageddon, The Day after Tomorrow and one of my personal favorites, The Book of Eli, are some of the more popular movies that have nurtured and furthered the end-time fascination and speculation.

But why are human beings so interested in this topic? Could it be that we are simply longing for a better place, a paradise, nirvana, an end to all the trouble, turmoil and tribulations? Even when things are good they fail to completely satisfy our innermost desires and so we dream of a place that completely satisfies all of our deepest longings for meaning, purpose and total love. All of nature joins in with its groans for deliverance and all of humanity right along with it seeks a way out, an exodus to a land of milk and honey.

Well, the scripture teaches that God has placed eternity within the heart of all humankind. This means that we know intuitively that what is here is temporal and must come to an end to make way for a new and desirable future. The doomsday forecasters are partly right. There will be an end. There will be a new beginning. God has promised that much for sure. But the day and hour NO ONE KNOWS, and no one ever will. I guess the big thing is are we ready?