Apocalypse (Not) Now
Whew. We made it.
Upon hearing the news this week that some preacher in Oakland had proclaimed the world would end today at 6pm, I (like everyone else) just laughed. What I really wondered was whether it would be 6pm Hawaii time, or would it be sort of a rolling apocalypse, starting in one time zone somewhere and continuing every hour, upon the hour, until the entire planet was wiped out? More than anything, it just confused me. I mean really, if you have knowledge about the end of days, you should at least be specific, right?
I also wondered what all these purported rapture believers were doing with their final hours here. Were they praying? Eating everything in sight? Partying like it was 1999? Maybe seeing "Bridesmaids" for one final laugh before they bit the dust? Inquiring minds wanted to know. I even started (loosely) examining my own behaviors the past couple of days and so badly wanted to use the apocalypse excuse for not doing my normal chores. Probably the last thing I would want to be doing during my final moments is chores. Yet there I was, doing my laundry on Friday. Chuckling to myself that yes, if my world was about to come to an end and there was anyone left to sift through the rubble, I would indeed be found with clean underwear.
And what about the things I would want to be doing at the end? I started to think I should be doing something spectacular. You know like sky diving, or hang-gliding. Or maybe eating chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. Mmm. That would be the way to go. But instead, I just kept on my usual routine. Turns out it was a good thing I did my laundry because here I am, in clean clothes, typing away. And it was a also a good thing I worked on Friday to keep the whole bill-paying cycle going, instead of taking the day off and trying to go out in a blaze of glory.
Amazingly, the end never came. No rapture. At least not for me.
What a surprise.
I am fascinated by all of this, to say the least. It was also a good thing I worked on Friday because I had a revelatory moment that seemed to underscore the universal need to stop taking life so darn seriously. By late morning, I noticed that a few of my co-workers were in very bad moods. Like intensely bad. Like "there's no way a smile is going to cross my lips" kind of bad. Why? Who knows. I just knew that I had been there before. At that point, I saw clearly that I have been in the same foul mood at one point or another. And it was always over nothing. The mere idea that I could ever have let things bother me to that point seemed ludicrous and downright hilarious. Well, at least on this day.
I burst out laughing.
For the remaining three hours of my shift, nobody was going to convince me that what I was doing at my job was truly worth getting upset or angry about. Who cared about any of it? Was it going to mean anything in a few months, or even a few hours? Of course not. Besides, with the rapture hanging over our heads like a guillotine tied by a weak string from the ceiling, this seemed like a fortunate time to get some clarity and lighten up a little. So lighten up I did, and my day ended up very nicely, thank you. If this was to be my last shift, at least I went out feeling good.
It seems like we should always be living our lives as if every day could be our last. That being said, I can say for sure that I don't always do it. I recognize (on some level) that life won't last forever. Nothing last forever. That is the truth after all. And yet it is so easy to forget that we are not invincible, and that this whole dance of life is fleeting.
So I just try to keep learning, keep smiling, and do the best I can with what I have. It is hard enough work to keep everything in its proper perspective and stop taking things so seriously from one moment to the next. Yes, it is true that the end will one day come. Let the rest of the world figure out when that will be. I just want to keep figuring out how to make the best of the time I do have.
There are more than enough things to be afraid of in this world without a boy-who-cried-wolf adding to our paranoia (even if it is totally crazy). I propose that we stop trying to interpret any book and start trying to interpret ourselves. Make some sense of why it is we fear so many things, including death and the end of the world as we know it. Maybe shining that light inside will help get to the bottom of what is really happening for each of us. No need to wait for the next thing to be afraid of, just get started now. And speaking of fears, need I remind you all that 2012 is coming? Just like Y2K was coming. And just like May 21, 2011 was coming. You see a trend here?
So thank you, Oakland preacher man. Thank you for being wrong. Thank you even more for being so utterly ridiculous that we brushed you off with a smirk instead of being truly afraid. I must say, I still wonder what you and your followers were actually doing when the rapture didn't come.
Hmm.
Maybe eating chocolate while watching "Bridesmaids"? I hope so. A good laugh can do wonders for you.
Upon hearing the news this week that some preacher in Oakland had proclaimed the world would end today at 6pm, I (like everyone else) just laughed. What I really wondered was whether it would be 6pm Hawaii time, or would it be sort of a rolling apocalypse, starting in one time zone somewhere and continuing every hour, upon the hour, until the entire planet was wiped out? More than anything, it just confused me. I mean really, if you have knowledge about the end of days, you should at least be specific, right?
I also wondered what all these purported rapture believers were doing with their final hours here. Were they praying? Eating everything in sight? Partying like it was 1999? Maybe seeing "Bridesmaids" for one final laugh before they bit the dust? Inquiring minds wanted to know. I even started (loosely) examining my own behaviors the past couple of days and so badly wanted to use the apocalypse excuse for not doing my normal chores. Probably the last thing I would want to be doing during my final moments is chores. Yet there I was, doing my laundry on Friday. Chuckling to myself that yes, if my world was about to come to an end and there was anyone left to sift through the rubble, I would indeed be found with clean underwear.
And what about the things I would want to be doing at the end? I started to think I should be doing something spectacular. You know like sky diving, or hang-gliding. Or maybe eating chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. Mmm. That would be the way to go. But instead, I just kept on my usual routine. Turns out it was a good thing I did my laundry because here I am, in clean clothes, typing away. And it was a also a good thing I worked on Friday to keep the whole bill-paying cycle going, instead of taking the day off and trying to go out in a blaze of glory.
Amazingly, the end never came. No rapture. At least not for me.
What a surprise.
I am fascinated by all of this, to say the least. It was also a good thing I worked on Friday because I had a revelatory moment that seemed to underscore the universal need to stop taking life so darn seriously. By late morning, I noticed that a few of my co-workers were in very bad moods. Like intensely bad. Like "there's no way a smile is going to cross my lips" kind of bad. Why? Who knows. I just knew that I had been there before. At that point, I saw clearly that I have been in the same foul mood at one point or another. And it was always over nothing. The mere idea that I could ever have let things bother me to that point seemed ludicrous and downright hilarious. Well, at least on this day.
I burst out laughing.
For the remaining three hours of my shift, nobody was going to convince me that what I was doing at my job was truly worth getting upset or angry about. Who cared about any of it? Was it going to mean anything in a few months, or even a few hours? Of course not. Besides, with the rapture hanging over our heads like a guillotine tied by a weak string from the ceiling, this seemed like a fortunate time to get some clarity and lighten up a little. So lighten up I did, and my day ended up very nicely, thank you. If this was to be my last shift, at least I went out feeling good.
It seems like we should always be living our lives as if every day could be our last. That being said, I can say for sure that I don't always do it. I recognize (on some level) that life won't last forever. Nothing last forever. That is the truth after all. And yet it is so easy to forget that we are not invincible, and that this whole dance of life is fleeting.
So I just try to keep learning, keep smiling, and do the best I can with what I have. It is hard enough work to keep everything in its proper perspective and stop taking things so seriously from one moment to the next. Yes, it is true that the end will one day come. Let the rest of the world figure out when that will be. I just want to keep figuring out how to make the best of the time I do have.
There are more than enough things to be afraid of in this world without a boy-who-cried-wolf adding to our paranoia (even if it is totally crazy). I propose that we stop trying to interpret any book and start trying to interpret ourselves. Make some sense of why it is we fear so many things, including death and the end of the world as we know it. Maybe shining that light inside will help get to the bottom of what is really happening for each of us. No need to wait for the next thing to be afraid of, just get started now. And speaking of fears, need I remind you all that 2012 is coming? Just like Y2K was coming. And just like May 21, 2011 was coming. You see a trend here?
So thank you, Oakland preacher man. Thank you for being wrong. Thank you even more for being so utterly ridiculous that we brushed you off with a smirk instead of being truly afraid. I must say, I still wonder what you and your followers were actually doing when the rapture didn't come.
Hmm.
Maybe eating chocolate while watching "Bridesmaids"? I hope so. A good laugh can do wonders for you.
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