The World Ends!

The latest prediction is that the world will end on Saturday, May 21, 2011. Today is … hmmm … Friday, May 20, 2011. The world comes to an end TOMORROW, people!!!

Right now people around the globe are emotionally, intellectually, and physically invested in believing this prediction. Why? Out of anticipation—curiosity—fear?

The world’s end has been predicted before—more than once. I’ll give you just a few examples. Televangelist Pat Robertson predicted Judgment Day would come in 1982. Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church predicted the world would end by 1891, and a group that became the Seventh-Day Adventists predicted the end by 1843.

This time, it’s coming from Harold Camping, an 89-year-old retired civil engineer from Oakland, California. He believes he knows when the world will end because of numerological calculations based on what he’s read in the Bible. Camping just happens to have a ministry with the capability to broadcast around the world—and he’s done just that. The prediction has been publicized in almost every country.

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36 NIV)

I recently read “End of the world? How about a party instead?” written by Tom Breen from the Associated Press. According to the article, there’s been unrest involving thousands of people in Vietnam who believe Camping. His prediction has been spread by using radio, satellite TV, daily website updates, billboards, subway ads, and RV caravans hitting dozens of cities and missionaries scattered from Latin America to Asia.Billboards have gone up in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.

One report stated that Camping has amassed $120 million in donations from followers. So … if the world is ending … why does he need so much money? Is he using all of it to help get the word out in time?

Others insist that the world will come to an end as we know it on December 12, 2012. There’s even an official website for believers. There you can find a long list of articles that explain why this date is THEE date. The site showcases a long list of celebrities who “supposedly” agree with this prediction. You can get your 2012 survival guide—as well as your 2012 T-shirts through this site.

Some of the 2012 followers feel that instead of the second coming of Christ or the ultimate destruction of the world, the year 2012 may be more about internal transformation rather than external change.

Out of curiosity, I skimmed through some of the articles on that site. It all sounds kind of complicated to me.

“So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”  (Matthew 24:44 NIV)

What do I believe?

I believe that we should live each day as best we can—being productive, giving, and loving—appreciating the people in our lives. I believe in trying to live each day—as much as I can—as though it were my last, even though there are days when I still get bogged down with feeling I need to check things off my “to-do” list.

I believe that Christ will come when God, the Father, decides it’s time. That may mean after my time on earth, ten years from now, next week—or even before I finish typing my next word.

Whenever that time comes, I’m ready….

Are you?

Dawn