Once I was talking to a friend about something I believe regarding the miracle of my family and she snorted a retort that was something like “yeah, I don’t believe in miracles.”
No matter how much i tried to reason with her, she just kept saying “well, it’s not true because I don’t believe it.”
Ok then.
While I have my beliefs, (spiritual or other) I feel like I’m pretty easy to get along with when it comes to others differing beliefs. At least i try to be.
But i’m learning that there is one thing in which I simply put my food down, like my stubborn friend, and say “It’s just not true, because I don’t believe it.”
That area is our impending doom in the rapidly approaching Apocalypse.
Yesterday i was sitting beside my sister, at my nephew’s kindergarten graduation, when his teacher stood and said “I’d like to present to you the class of 2024.”
Everyone clapped, except my sister, whose brow furrowed and she said “isn’t it sad that we won’t see that day because of the apocalypse?”
Um. What???? {!!!!!!}
My little sister is a believer in Jesus. She’s a lover of Jesus. she doesn’t go to church, but totally would if there were no people there. Her way of compromise with the big man upstairs is watching church at home, pardon the pun, religiously… She’s kinda naive, and pretty much when someone says something- she believes it. If a big, famous tv preacher says it, you really can not convince her otherwise.
My little sister, who in her thirties still cries in a thunderstorm because she’s sure it’s going to be her demise… and these people she’s watching online have convinced her that the world is ending. NOW. She is literally, I gather, waiting in fear every day.
Which horrifyingly reminded me of a friend I used to have named Renee. I hung out with her in the very early days of our marriage when I was around 19 or 20. She was super artistic and had a cool life story. She was also my first exposure to a homeschooling mom.
except that she didn’t really school her 4 kids. When anyone asked her about it, she was really honest that it would be a waste of time when the rapture was going to happen within the next few years. Instead, they ran around naked whenever they wanted and danced to weird music while their mom smoked pot and sculpted.
On one particular evening Renee and i were working on something fairly artsy at her kitchen table when her 10 year old daughter asked her if she’d be pretty when she was 16. Renee, without missing a beat said “honey, you’ll never be 16 because the rapture will happen before then. No boyfriends or first kisses for you. No babies or husband.”
this would be about 15 years ago.
Yikes.
i wonder sometimes how her kids are… Which makes me wonder about my nieces and nephews, and my sister- the poster child and spokeswoman for worrying yourself to death about the most trivial things.
Yikes.
So yeah, I don’t believe in drug-pushing fear to the naive.
I don’t believe in giving a damn, honestly, about whether it’s going to be a rapture or a second coming, or a zombie Apocalypse.
i believe in being the best person I can be- or trying. I believe in spreading love to everyone but still cutting out the toxic people when necessary. I believe my kids are my ministry, and loving them is my job requirement. All of that other stuff? Who cares? It doesn’t matter. it’s a distraction from the daily life we need to live to the utmost of our abilities.
And if a zombie gets me in the end- I guess i’ll be a believer in that scenario just before I die.
Rainy Day in May... 
So sad for the kids of these mothers! :( Life here on Earth is a gift & kids should have the joy of looking forward to their futures.
i feel so awful, because at first, i callously laughed. i can't wrap my mind around actually believing the world is going to end, just *poof*, out of the blue.but then, as i kept reading, i grew more sad, forlorn. what i really can't imagine is living every day in fear, of some great unknown. one of the main reasons i turned away from faith (after being raised roman catholic) was the constant lesson that one day, i was going to be punished for all these things i had no idea i was doing wrong. i have other reasons for the drastic turn away from organized religion that i won't go into, but that's a big one.there is so much pain and awfulness in this world, and feeling like there is going to be a giant struggle at the end, that imminent, global destruction is waiting for you like a predator? that's just the most horrifying way to live one's life, it keeps you from every seeing the beauty it can hold.
it IS sad, Emily… and I imagine that underlying fear of not being perfect in everything is what pulls a lot of people from faith. that and people. :/and i totally would have laughed out loud, so i'm with ya!
Anytime a Christian looks at the end of the world with fear, there is a huge misunderstanding going on. I don't know what's going to happen or when (oh, and hey, guess what… neither did JESUS when he was on earth!), but I know that everything in the Bible that talks about the end of the world talks about hope. Nothing about the end times is written to stir up fear in people. It is written to remind us that God is looking out for us, and we will exist forever with Him. For someone who rejects Christ, the message is different, but it is so sad to me when Christians read the Bible and get afraid. It's also sad when they see "heaven" as the only worthwhile thing. Eternal life starts now, and we on here for a purpose.I could go on and on. This is one of those rare topics that I really care passionately about. SO, I'll just stop now. :)