The End of the World (As We Know It), Part One
The Word:
(Note: these citations are not from the Lectionary cycle)
Mark 13:1-37; Luke 21:5-33; 2 Peter 3:3-12
It's the end of the world as we know it;
It's the end of the world as we know it;
It's the end of the world as we know it;
And I feel fine... --from a 1987 song by the the rock band R.E.M
"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky." --Jesus of Nazareth (Luke 21:9-11, New American Bible)
The end times.
Much has been written and even more has been speculated about the earth's ultimate demise, a full spectrum ranging from mildly curious to morbidly curious to outright panic. All of us have taken part in this in one way or another. Not that we shouldn't - we have a vested interest in the outcome, not to mention how it plays out.
I think my first exposure to an end time was the biblical account of Noah (Genesis 6-8). It was among my lessons in Catholic school. It came about the same time that comedian Bill Cosby launched his career with a stand-up routine about the conversation between Noah and God:
GOD: Noah!
NOAH: Who is it?
GOD: It's the Lord, Noah.
NOAH: Riiight...What'cha want?
GOD: I want you to build an ark, Noah.
NOAH: Riiight...What's an ark?
GOD: Build it 80 cubits by 60 cubits by 40 cubits...
NOAH: Riiight...What's a cubit?
GOD: Let's see...I used to know what a cubit was...in any case, when it's built I want you to gather all the animals in the world by twos, one male and one female; and put them into the ark.
NOAH: Riiight...WHO IS THIS REALLY??
God was out to, as I was taught at the time, destroy the creation He had made. Most people had ignored the calling to do good and to work with each other instead of against them. Noah and his family were spared, because Noah had proven to be good in the eye of the Lord. (And because Noah had enough foresight to sense something big was about to happen. At least he had that certain something - faith, perhaps? - to not discount what God was telling him. Maybe weather patterns as such indicated that a houseboat might not be a bad thing to have. Hard to say.)
Yet when the Great Flood ended, it seemed that the world quickly repopulated. And it seems reasonable to sense that the world was destroyed by those who could not escape the fury of the elements, or the paradigm shift in thinking that arose in Noah before it.
In recent TV ads, the outreach group "Catholics Come Home" has stated that the Catholic Church founded the scientific method; that is, the formal process of hypothesis, testing, and conclusion that marks much of humanity's advances in the secular world. Yet, science is often at odds with the Bible. This is in part due to the way the Bible came to be written. The Bible is a timeless document because what it speaks to spiritually still needs addressing today. Still, the various books were written at different times and spoke to different audiences, using language and imagery that don't make the same connections today as they did then. For a long, long time the average Catholic was not encouraged to read the Bible as, in the mind of the Church hierarchy, interpretation by the masses had raised the prospect of asking more questions than could be answered simply; questions that could irreversibly change the direction of the Church. (And it did!)
While I was in ministry formation study nearly twenty years ago, I got into an intense discussion about the "end times." A fellow classmate and I (we lived two blocks apart) held an impromptu armchair theology session about a class we'd just attended. As budding minister wannabees, isn't there some sense of urgency to understand what it is that is contained within sacred Scripture? That we would all be on the same page, as it were, when we began our formal ministerial service?
My classmate held the view that everything contained in the prophecies of the New Testament regarding the 'end times' was literal. But, I argued, what about Noah and the Great Flood? God had set out to destroy the earth, but he didn't. And somehow, people who weren't part of Noah's clan - the 'survivors - managed to creep back into the world as Noah's successors knew it. And what about all the great plagues and wars? What about the Holocaust and World War II? Didn't people living at the time and in the line of fire, as it were, think that the end was here?
That discussion fifteen years ago ended in an agreement to disagree. Still, even now - especially now - with four earthquakes in less than four weeks (including the minor one in my wider 'backyard' outside Chicago), accompanying tsunamis, intense winter storms in places not accustomed to them, the threats attributed to global warming - especially now, it is hard not to believe that a cycle, a way of life, is ending, and a different one is taking shape.
Further, as my generation closes in on the realm of senior citizenship, and the stories emerge about friends and relatives with chronic, geriatic, and terminal diseases, the reality sets in that the 'golden years' are more dingy yellow than shiny. The realization that you can't take all your accumulated possessions with you, even to the nursing home, challenges young and old alike to the point of feeling overwhelmed and very much helpless.
Yes, the end times are very much real. It is important to see how we symbolically identify with the New Testament prophecies - not just in a global sense, but also at a personal level. It is also important for the believer to remember that full foreknowledge of the event is God's and His alone. Many events and situations take place that are unsettling and sobering. They can lead to questions and speculation regarding the immediate and long-term future. The answers lie in prayer. Each of us will experience the end of many things, and the life we know on this earth will one day end. But the how and where we must place at His feet.
(Note: these citations are not from the Lectionary cycle)
Mark 13:1-37; Luke 21:5-33; 2 Peter 3:3-12
It's the end of the world as we know it;
It's the end of the world as we know it;
It's the end of the world as we know it;
And I feel fine... --from a 1987 song by the the rock band R.E.M
"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky." --Jesus of Nazareth (Luke 21:9-11, New American Bible)
The end times.
Much has been written and even more has been speculated about the earth's ultimate demise, a full spectrum ranging from mildly curious to morbidly curious to outright panic. All of us have taken part in this in one way or another. Not that we shouldn't - we have a vested interest in the outcome, not to mention how it plays out.
I think my first exposure to an end time was the biblical account of Noah (Genesis 6-8). It was among my lessons in Catholic school. It came about the same time that comedian Bill Cosby launched his career with a stand-up routine about the conversation between Noah and God:
GOD: Noah!
NOAH: Who is it?
GOD: It's the Lord, Noah.
NOAH: Riiight...What'cha want?
GOD: I want you to build an ark, Noah.
NOAH: Riiight...What's an ark?
GOD: Build it 80 cubits by 60 cubits by 40 cubits...
NOAH: Riiight...What's a cubit?
GOD: Let's see...I used to know what a cubit was...in any case, when it's built I want you to gather all the animals in the world by twos, one male and one female; and put them into the ark.
NOAH: Riiight...WHO IS THIS REALLY??
God was out to, as I was taught at the time, destroy the creation He had made. Most people had ignored the calling to do good and to work with each other instead of against them. Noah and his family were spared, because Noah had proven to be good in the eye of the Lord. (And because Noah had enough foresight to sense something big was about to happen. At least he had that certain something - faith, perhaps? - to not discount what God was telling him. Maybe weather patterns as such indicated that a houseboat might not be a bad thing to have. Hard to say.)
Yet when the Great Flood ended, it seemed that the world quickly repopulated. And it seems reasonable to sense that the world was destroyed by those who could not escape the fury of the elements, or the paradigm shift in thinking that arose in Noah before it.
In recent TV ads, the outreach group "Catholics Come Home" has stated that the Catholic Church founded the scientific method; that is, the formal process of hypothesis, testing, and conclusion that marks much of humanity's advances in the secular world. Yet, science is often at odds with the Bible. This is in part due to the way the Bible came to be written. The Bible is a timeless document because what it speaks to spiritually still needs addressing today. Still, the various books were written at different times and spoke to different audiences, using language and imagery that don't make the same connections today as they did then. For a long, long time the average Catholic was not encouraged to read the Bible as, in the mind of the Church hierarchy, interpretation by the masses had raised the prospect of asking more questions than could be answered simply; questions that could irreversibly change the direction of the Church. (And it did!)
While I was in ministry formation study nearly twenty years ago, I got into an intense discussion about the "end times." A fellow classmate and I (we lived two blocks apart) held an impromptu armchair theology session about a class we'd just attended. As budding minister wannabees, isn't there some sense of urgency to understand what it is that is contained within sacred Scripture? That we would all be on the same page, as it were, when we began our formal ministerial service?
My classmate held the view that everything contained in the prophecies of the New Testament regarding the 'end times' was literal. But, I argued, what about Noah and the Great Flood? God had set out to destroy the earth, but he didn't. And somehow, people who weren't part of Noah's clan - the 'survivors - managed to creep back into the world as Noah's successors knew it. And what about all the great plagues and wars? What about the Holocaust and World War II? Didn't people living at the time and in the line of fire, as it were, think that the end was here?
That discussion fifteen years ago ended in an agreement to disagree. Still, even now - especially now - with four earthquakes in less than four weeks (including the minor one in my wider 'backyard' outside Chicago), accompanying tsunamis, intense winter storms in places not accustomed to them, the threats attributed to global warming - especially now, it is hard not to believe that a cycle, a way of life, is ending, and a different one is taking shape.
Further, as my generation closes in on the realm of senior citizenship, and the stories emerge about friends and relatives with chronic, geriatic, and terminal diseases, the reality sets in that the 'golden years' are more dingy yellow than shiny. The realization that you can't take all your accumulated possessions with you, even to the nursing home, challenges young and old alike to the point of feeling overwhelmed and very much helpless.
Yes, the end times are very much real. It is important to see how we symbolically identify with the New Testament prophecies - not just in a global sense, but also at a personal level. It is also important for the believer to remember that full foreknowledge of the event is God's and His alone. Many events and situations take place that are unsettling and sobering. They can lead to questions and speculation regarding the immediate and long-term future. The answers lie in prayer. Each of us will experience the end of many things, and the life we know on this earth will one day end. But the how and where we must place at His feet.