"THE END DAYS"?

 The national conversation this week was all about Hurricane Irene--and whispered within the talk, a tantalizing question, which we will get to later.  As we anxiously awaited Irene's visit and her  wrath  as she blasted her way across the eastern seaboard, we are reminded once again of our fragility and utter helplessness in the face of natural disasters. Preparations were made,  evacuations were done, agencies did what they could do, flights were cancelled, and ----then she hit, Irene came to call, but nobody answered the door.  New York looked like a ghost town, as the storm poured gallons of rain and blew its fury across the state. Irene left her calling cards with uprooted trees, flooded streets, submerged cars and massive power outages.  It wasn't as bad as feared, but the city and others across the east coast, stood firm---with the exception, so far, of 37deaths in 11 states. It wasn't another Katrina, but could have been, and there wouldn't have been much we could do about it.  Global warming theories not withstanding, we are but passengers on our space ship, and are no match for the violence and unpredictablity of  storms, to say nothing of earthquakes,  and tsunamis, which leave us trembling at our helplessness and  lack of ability to accurately foresee and prepare adequately for days of  natural disasters.   Days---they tumble generously out of the sky, one after the other, giving us a brand new beginning with each sunrise. None of us really knows where or how it all got started----we just don't want it to end.

 So the question for this week's conversation is:  Are these just capricious weather cycles, or climate change, or---signs of Biblical warnings?  'There shall be earthquakes and famine and  drought and---' to warn of the end of the world. There are those who claim this is it----the " end days", and we must get our spiritual selves in order---or be left behind, as written in the book of Revelations?  But haven't people been predicting the end endlessly since the beginning of time? And hasn't the earth been known to convulse and change dramatically over the eons ? Still, one can wonder at the world we live in and the seemingly over whelming problems---has the human race run its course and is headed towards the finish line? If there is a God, is He weary of us, and our ungodly ways---disappointed in His human experiment?  Will He repeat his impatient anger, as He did with Sodom and Gomorra, those Biblical cities who refused to turn away from their sins of greed, corruption, and worship of golden idols, now known as money? Well, that's pretty heavy duty stuff---way too religious and hokey-dokey for many to subscribe, much less re-order their spirituality---or their priorities.  Most of us are way too busy living to worry about such imaginary and apocalyptic  predictions.  No man has the ability to prophesy, and some have been dangerous, cult-ish, and wrong. Even  Al Gore and his cadre of scientists have been proven to be less than accurate, after all, with their dire weather facts.

But as we watch the evening news and observe the global crises, it isn't such a stretch to believe that we could well be on a path to major upheaval, if not destruction of our own making---so perhaps we don't need a God to provide the end. We are doing it all alone to ourselves by our inability to solve our problems, understand our neighbors, and strive for peace, rather than power---let alone the likes of "Irene" and "Katrina".Then again, perhaps, this is the dawning of a new  age, --- led not by Aquarius, but the "Arab Spring".  These countries may produce their own peaceful democracies, free from despotic and oppressive rule. They may cease to be a threat to us,  terrorism will finally be snuffed out, wars will end, and there will be treasure and compassion to end starvation in Africa, Asia and elsewhere. Tribal and ethnic differences will also end, as those in power will gain the wisdom to lead away from such cruel and senseless behavior. No religion will rule, but all may worship as they please, as long as they do not infringe upon another's right to do the same. A global economy will bring incredible co-operation and wealth to all, as we work together and share our resources. Utopia??  Why not?  It could happen---but probably will not.  We are humans, not gods, with limited wisdom--- and our instinct is to survive, to protect our own, and defend against those who would trespass against us. No, we would need divine intervention for such as the above to happen---which brings us to Biblical lore again---there is another story called "The rapture", a heavenly taking of some and leaving of others, which will precede many years of peace on earth----much too religious and complicated to discuss in mixed, secular company, which this is.

Of course, the Bible and it's stories  could all be a grand fairy tale, and this isn't an attempt to evangelize ---it's simply a reflection of the current conversational buzz, a possibility, a religious belief to many, and a nice alternative to the evening gloom and doom news.  End days?  Who knows? If you are any kind of  Biblical scholar , you surely know the words of Jesus so often quoted in response to those who would predict such things as endings---"I shall come as a thief in the night".In other words live well the present, and don't try to guess the end game--- not ours to know. It would be like cheating on an exam by peeking at the answers before hand---with life being the  real deal test.

But wait---- this blog is supposed to provide conversational fodder----yet isn't this all rather taboo, in that the "end of days" is usually spoken of in connection with religion, not terrorism, wars, nuclear bombs or even climate change disasters, which are much more politically correct.  Certainly,  do not call "Irene" and "Katrina"  "acts of God", perpetrated perhaps by an angry God,, a la Sodom and Gomorra, as Michelle Bachmann recently and half jolkingly implied .She got burned big time by the media for that one---who considered  her remarks politically inappropriate, unsophisticated, and terribly offensive.  No, no no, they ba-a-a , ba-a-ad---natural disasters  are simply freak accidents of Mother Nature ----as we may also be, and no telling when or where the end will come.

So be  careful with whom you discuss "the end days", unless you run into Michelle Bachmann.  Those words smack of Biblical references and faith---and well, that's just not very popular or intellectual sounding anymore---separation of church and state, don't you know. We are becoming  increasingly secular and proud of it.  In God we trust??  Are you kidding me?  That was our founders' idea, not necessarily ours---and we are a changing, fluid mix of people, less and less needful of any God in our government. But then, in whom do we trust? What do we stand for, and whose principles do we follow? We appear to no longer care so much----

 Unless you happen to be  John Polkinghorne, a world class physicist , author, and reknowned scientist who dares to speak of the relationship between science and religion.  He admits to not knowing for sure that there is a God, bows to uncertainties in both religion and science, but is a believer in spite of his doubts ---just as he believes in other scientific theories, such things as "light", or "quarks", or "gluons".  But he says there is enough evidence of God all around us for him to "bet my life on it----I'm not certain. Sometimes I'm wrong". I don't know what Mr. Polkinghorne would think about the "end days" and all the supposed signs we're seeing, but I'll bet he's not betting against it.

I like a gambling man who will bet his life on what he doesn't know for sure---and is willing  to take a leap of faith.  Takes guts to go publicly against the flow and many of your own peers----and an intelligence, which concedes to the possibility of a higher intelligence, presumably based on some pretty hard evidence---a life sustaining planet, a universe of infinite mystery, order, and design, and a race of people who know not from where they came---but, who in spite of their many flaws, have great capacity to love, laugh, and weep----and who cherish the thought of yet another day to get it all right.