Apocalypses Now & Then
What can we believe?
We speak of Apocalypse!
Which Apocalypse are we meaning, when we use that word today? The Biblical description? Well, possibly. But that is “old school” and people question the validity of Biblical writing all the time.
Do we feel more comfortable with the Hollywood Version — in living color and streaming realistically on our viewing screens? Sure. They are real people, right — and the fire and smoke and explosions look like fires we have seen with our own eyes. I mean we make explosions happen on purpose at Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve, right? So we know that the Hollywood version must be the “real thing”.
Who are we fooling?
When we go outside on a bright California Day and see the horizon blazing — that is real. When we go where a fire has been, we see what’s left.
Visiting a relative in the mountains to the east of San Diego, and to the west of the Borrego Desert, I have had a tour of a neigborhood fairly recently rebuilt and reinhabited after an inferno. The pleasant house he lives in has these in the garden. Testimony to the event. Rebuilding in that neighborhood was an act of faith.
To the east of that mountain area lies the Borrego Springs Desert.
My hosts are carefully watching smoke rising from the horizon around them. They have their escape plan. The fires, last I heard, are 25 miles from them. Not very far, given the unruly winds and the drought parched landscape.
The empty, bare, sere acres of desertland suggest that once a fierce force scoured the face of the earth and stripped away living things for a long time. Yes, there is still a sign of life. Not human life, though. Desert Tortoises. Cacti.
Ghosts.
This is real. Something real happened here. And why do we think it cannot happen again? Even science can address that question — but there are no sure answers. God only knows!!!
But is it Apocalyptic?
Does it seem “real” to you that the world is in such a disturbed state? Not just California — not just the USA — but from sea to shining sea. The aberrations of weather and climate and human confusion, the loss of life and limb from floods and earthquakes and eruptions. Does it seem as if the planet earth is having a major interior disturbance and is being buffeted from the outside by malevolent forces? Is it our fault? Is it divine justice? Is it terminal?
Having a significant background in teaching Scriptural Eschatology gives serious pause. We are told in the Bible that we should not stand on the housetops waiting. We are told to carry on our good work on earth. And we are told by our scientists that we have ruined the planet.
What is the good work? Where do I go next?
And which written, verbal, and video stories should I refer to when contemplating Apocalypse-like groans worldwide?
I think we are going to find out. Maybe tomorrow! Or next century?
Someone once said “Mother Nature is a Mean Mother.”
When you get her gifts mixed up with personal rights, she’s not at all happy.
That’s what I think.
SGHolland July 2018
