Years ago I would joke around saying that it would be cool to be around during the "end times," as Christians are likely to call them. You see, I'd be really popular in heaven. People would come up to me and be like, "Wow! What was it like?" "You saw the moon turn to blood?" Stuff like that.
I could say that because I've been pretty confident that God will be with me eternally, even if there are difficult and scary times. God is bigger than everything that happens.
I never really believed we were in the end times, however, for several reasons. One is that every single generation since Jesus' time has thought they were the last. And they were all wrong. I understand the math behind that. I also see that some people use it as an excuse for various types of behavior. As far as I'm concerned, the truth is that we have no idea.
I don't subscribe to this whole "The world is getting worse" theory either. Honestly, just a look at history can tell you it's always been at least this bad. And since today there are less poor and starving people, less disease, less children dying, than in the last 200 years, we actually overall are doing well. It's just that now we have world news and the internet and people can read 24/7 about all of the bad things.
Then of course there is the political division, especially in America. Nearly half of our country have convinced themselves that the "other" party will destroy everything they held dear. It almost seems like a mass gaslighting where each side gets more extreme and believes more ridiculous falsehoods to justify their continued culture war. Regardless, this is one reason I've become apolitical. Normally I won't talk about it much since I do not wish to offend, yet hardly anyone reads this blog anyway.
Lately it has felt a bit more "end of the world"-ish. I'm developing the new AI curriculum at the college where I teach, and I am seeing updates daily on it and it is going to be (and already is) quite powerful. China, Russia, and the Middle East all seem to be leaning toward more aggressiveness. So I understand why some might worry.
But let's get down to it:
The End of The World
If you are one of those people currently worried about "The End," and you know God, like me, I want to encourage you. (You know who you are!)
Part of the reason we fear the end of the world is because of suffering. We have been conditioned, especially in America, to avoid and revile suffering. However, the simple lesson of Jesus should show us: he suffered. Then we are told also to take up our cross and follow him. This strongly implies we will suffer. But we don't have to view it as some horrible trial that we have to go through. We can view it as following God, and actually learn from our suffering. Most importantly: we can use it to be transformed.
If you stay in the mainstream of life, in other words, you let in the suffering of the world that invariably enters all of our lives by the time we're in our middle years, when we've experienced a few deaths and read a few headlines. Famine, poverty, abuse, you can't keep that all blocked out. If you let those things teach you, influence you, change you, those are the events that transition you without you even knowing it to become more compassionate. In other words, you hold onto your values, but you do it much more inclusively, humbly and in an open ended way. Suffering takes you there. - Richard Rohr
Since I have gone through very extreme suffering (see my Adrenal Fatigue documentary) I have much less fear of it now. I can sit through my suffering, I can be, I can even find God there. Sometimes it has even felt like I cannot find God when it is at its worst -- but I know she is there waiting on the other side for me. I only must wait for it to pass. You see, all things, all states will pass, but I will remain. And this is because I am a vine grafted into the Tree of God himself.
Letting Go
I think another reason it can be difficult to face the end of the world, is because we hold on to things. We have so many expectations. Some are simple: we will get up tomorrow, have a meal we like, do some things we like to do. Simple things that make us happy. But also being attached to them causes the fear of losing them. And so we can end up that the more we have, the more we live in fear of loss. Whenever I fear losing something, if I'm aware of it, I practice letting go of that thing instead. "What if I never had this thing again?" I sit and appreciate the times when I had that thing (or person!) in my life, and think grateful thoughts. I have lost many people and things already, and I'm still here and mostly fine. There are those I love very much that are gone from my life, and I miss them terribly; but my gratefulness practice helps. Also I can remember we can still love something or someone without possessing them. I still love those people that are gone. The more we practice letting go of everything in life, the less fear we will have about it.
What we Have
What we do have is the Divine, the Source, the Maker. The Lover of Our Souls. Our wonderful Father who treasures us. We also have the consciousness, the experience of life we have been given. That will not be taken away. Even as this body dies, our consciousness will continue. I am sure of that. So, even if it is the end of the world, it will be an exciting and interesting time. We will see what we are truly made of. We will (hopefully) do our best, and have grace for our failures. And then, it will be over, and we will be at peace.
Have you seen any of those documentaries about people having near death experiences (NDEs)? Nearly all of them report an amazing sense of peace after leaving their bodies. Their consciousness floats around, still seeing (without eyes!) and hearing (without ears!) Most do not want to return but are told they must. We will continue.
We All Will Die
We are all going to die anyway. It could be a car accident tomorrow. We don't know. But once we have accepted death, we are free. Even the story of baptism reflects this: we are buried with Christ and resurrected. Hardly any of us consider how to die, or how we have died. But this dying to self is freedom. Once you have come to terms with your own death, what is there to fear? (Suffering, yes, loss, yes, but we've already talked about those two! No need to fear those either.) So we must die to be reborn in love and spirit.
“If I take death into my life, acknowledge it, and face it squarely, I will free myself from the anxiety of death and the pettiness of life - and only then will I be free to become myself. ”
― Martin Heidegger
I know I'm not all the way there yet. I haven't totally accepted death or let go of all my concepts and possessions. But I can see the path in that direction and I walk it. So I will practice accepting death. I will practice letting go, and gratitude. And I will allow my suffering to transform me to be more like Christ. If it is the end of the world, I could not stop it anyway. If it comes, let it come. I will be, once again, the observer to witness it, and the dancer, to flow along with what is happening.
