In my young impressionable youth of a mere twenty, I traveled on a study abroad program to Florence, Italy. In one of my classes, the teacher spoke about the fall of nations and societies. "Just as in Rome," he said, "throughout history all societies and nations find their end, so to will America."
As a young naive twenty year old, this thought of my country dying, all that I knew as safe and comfortable, was petrifying, to say the least.
But, now that I am ancient, nay I should say wiser and more mature, I see this reality with less horror and with more of a sense of hopeful comfort.
Many of the world religions believe in some form of 'world ending' philosophy in their theology. In addition, there are many a novel written about the end of the world as we know it replaced by a dystopian society, as it were. Hollywood has in itself gotten into the thread of the story by producing films and TV shows with a world-ending, dystopia theme surrounding the characters and story-lines.
Why is this 'end-times' notion such a popular and relatable theme? It seems as if all people, on whatever the spectrum of spiritual belief or not at all, have some sort of understanding that the world as we know it will cease to exist, in some way and fashion.
In high school, I thoroughly enjoyed the assigned reading texts of Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, and (my personal favorite), 1984. The characters' living through the existence of a present dystopia was intriguing and fascinating to my hyper active imagination.
In my fun-die days, I, hungrily, ate up the bible studies the pastors taught through the book of Revelation as well as the Left Behind novels written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. These lessons and stories offered me some semblance of comfort that I could never truly explain, perhaps as if my future was already planned releasing me from some sort of worry or anguish. Added to that, there is even a crazy and dark crime scandal in Idaho (of all places) shrouded in the mystery of a dooms-day Mormon cult. (Google: Lori Vallow Daybell for more info!)
So, why then was I so worried when my college professor declared the ending of America, way back in the shockingly innocent times of 1999? I think I can explain why---
I have come to believe that the end of the world is not necessarily merely a corporate reality, but even more so part of the individual journey we all must venture. The reason for the universality of this belief is because we all have births and deaths throughout our entire lives.
At the age of ancient wisdom that I have now reached, I have had many a death, a destructive ending, as it were. From heartbreaking good-byes of lovers and friends, to a bitter divorce, a shattering diagnosis of bipolar, all brought me to a deeper appreciation and love for myself, my abilities, in the wake of such despair. My twenty year old self, sitting in that classroom in the beautiful ornate building in down-town Florence, Italy, had yet to truly experience any of these losses, pains, and deconstruction of self that I have now.
On the other side of all the pain and anguish I have experienced, I find an inner calm and peace, a light that guides the path of which I'm to follow. My life today is far from perfect, nor do I wish it to be. I still have days of struggle and sorrow, but deep within lies the belief that I will make it through, if only because I have done so before.
So, dear reader, as you look upon all the insanity, tragedy of this world's current events, from the persecution of racism against African Americans to the rampage of the global pandemic, causing its own turmoil in a variety of ways, know that the end is not in and of itself, a loss of hope, but the birth to a new chapter of your life and that of the whole world. Together and individually we are in the midst of pains of spiritual and emotional birth, an upheaval to shake us out of our comfort zones, bringing us closer and closer still to our truest purpose, to live in complete wholeness as we progress further in our journeys toward evolutionary enlightenment.
Thus, with Jesus we can say, "This sickness is not unto death," because, my friend, it is not. Take heart, for darkness shall not prevail and we will not toil here long, out of the shadows we shall emerge, new, refined, healed, and truly alive.
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine
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