Although I have not been a Christian for many years, the stories and images from my early education are still with me. They also pervade culture and literature, so it’s impossible to escape them completely. Thus, I was thinking last night about the Book of Revelation.
I have read this chapter of the Bible. It is a weird trip—almost hallucinatory. It purports to show the end of the world as we know it, and the return of the Savior. Many times throughout history, people have thought that the End Times were at hand, and have prepared to be pulled up to Heaven bodily. But, of course, the next day came, and there they were: still at home and the trash needed to go out.
Today, there are more signs than ever that The End is Near. I don’t need to enumerate. But I had this thought: what if there is no specific “End Times”, but it is something that happens periodically when old ways of living in the World can no longer be tolerated?
I’m now going to push metaphor pretty far—perhaps over the edge of a cliff—so, if you can’t hang with me, who would blame you?
Consider: a powerful demagogue has claimed the mantle of Christianity, and swayed many “true believers” to follow him despite his egregious and very un-Christian behavior. Times seem to be improving without limit for the believers, and the rest of the world be hanged.
Suddenly, there are plagues and pestilence. The whole of humankind is in turmoil. Just then, a good man is brutally killed by those in power, and his name becomes a symbol for billions. The tide of evil begins to turn, and the good are lifted up. Heaven is realized within the hearts of the just and the long-promised peace and harmony of humankind arrives at last!
The last part of this tale has not yet been written. We are writing it now.
