This woman finally looked at me and asked "do you believe in God?"
"Yes." I responded.
"I believe that I am not God. I also believe that you are not God. I believe there's some intelligent being out there. But, I don't go around wondering if these are the last days we have to live on the earth. That, would be too much to go carrying around. I could walk out of here right now and get killed by a truck and guess what - for me that would be the end of the world." Both people in the room nodded. Good, I thought, conversation over it's almost 5:00 pm on a Friday, lets get the hell out of here. I may have even said that out loud.
The funny thing is this was not the first conversation in one week that I'd had with someone regarding the last days. The other conversation was not about the Mayan calendar but about preachings (Meaning, if it doesn't exist - make some sh*t up.) Okay, here's what happened. I was out to dinner with a friend and get a facebook message saying:
"You need to read this book by Ellen G. White called Last Day Events."
"Y" I responded.
"Because I want your opinion about it."
"What's it about?" Yes, indeed that was my response - I don't go around thinking on this stuff people.
She must have thought I was dumb because I did not get a response to that last question. Anyway, curious enough I got home from dinner, grabbed my lap top and - you know what I did - I googled it. Found the PDF of the book, read through the table of contents, read the introduction and about the first forty pages and was SCARED! Now, I am not a critic of ANY religious beliefs you may or may not have. But, I and I'm sure you probably feel the same, do not like being SCARED! So, they asked me my opinion - riigghht. So I did what I am trained to do. I began highlighting sections, pointing out the lack of citations, did some research of my own, pulled out a few reference books and began an argument. Because, the book is in PDF format I was able to highlight and comment in the PDF and email it back to the person who asked my opinion in the first place.
The Last Days, the Last Days, the Last Days! Are these the last days - I don't know- and you don't know either - I don't think the Mayan's knew - but of course if we're not here on December 24th- then I was wrong - don't get me started about December 25th. These conversations about "the last days" are pretty interesting, and we as mortal beings are probably compelled by some innate urge to talk about the end of our very being, but I don't think anyone can say when the Last Days will be.
A Jehovah's Witness once asked my son if he would like to join him in a bible study . . . David's response was priceless "No, I don't thinks so. I went to Catholic school so I've read the bible. There's some scary stuff in there."
This is Reverend Lillian G. Gonzalez signing off.
Yes, I am a Reverend, I went online answered a few questions paid $27.00 and received a Doctor of Divinity in the mail just a few days later. I did it as a joke, but apparently I can perform weddings and funerals now - as long as I register with my local county court.
OOh, yes this is a very scary subject for some, and I will admit that the thought of "The Last Days" does ruffle my scary feathers a little bit. I was brought up Baptist and learned that there was a firey hell waiting for sinners and that one day Jesus was going to come back in a cloud and save all those obeying him...Then somewhere in my life I was a devout Jehovah's Wittness for 10 years and learned that there was going to be an "Apocolyptic" type deal called Armageddon that would destroy all the non believers as well...And then we have the Myan Calender saying this is all going to happen December 23rd 2012.... No wonder there is a such thing as "Nightmares".....Well this is what I believe....King James Version (Matthew 24:36) that states... However no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the son himself (Jesus)...that is what I believe....
ReplyDeleteSo I believe that one day God will make a change to the way things are going and that could be today or tomorrow...I believe that our end comes when we die...All the other stuff in between I just think I should let God handle that since he seems to be so much more qualified at that kind of stuff that us mere humans.....But yeah though very scary.....Hmmm I wonder if I could get someone who believes the world is ending Dec 23rd to sign over their money and wordly possessions to me since they will no longer need it.... (just a thought)
Oh cool though Lillian, you can now Marry me and I don't have to run around looking for someone....$27.00 well spent my friend.... :)
Well the interesting thing about the Mayans and the Bible scriptures is that they both speak of an end of "Ages" Aion in Greek, that is the exact word that is used in the original scriptures. The Mayans spoke of an end of age as well and were not afraid of it simply because they understood that everything changes not because they believed in a god of any kind they were actually Scientist. So today people take the Bible and do not read it in the context of the time it was written and do not look into how and most importantly WHO put the Bible that is used today together. Nonetheless religion is meant to keep people in submission of some kind and it's usually to another person. But Faith is based on what one believes to be that God for them and in every Faith the base of the conversation is always LOVE. Will god flip out and destroy everything to bring "Heaven" down unto an Earth that has been torn apart? I seriously doubt it, one of the most precious things in life to me is a smile and that has a greater impact so all the death and destruction talk is just people wanting to believe in fear and not educate themselves on how and why the Bible is written the way it is. As for the Mayans they studied the stars and saw patterns and were able to predict certain celestial patterns so this 12/21/2012 all that will happen is another shift in the universe but it'll just keep moving for it is another day.
ReplyDeleteSo, I just posted a link on my blog ommarathonlawyer.com about the miracle of Hanukkah, a miracle of continuity. I know that there are so many that have talked about the Mayan calendar and how it has pointed to the end of the world. My take on it is, if it is the end, well, it is and we dont have a choice in the matter. In the Jewish calendar it is the year 5773, and counting. In the Gregorian calendar it is 2012 and counting. Oh, and the Gregorian calendar goes to the year 0 and then goes backwards, so the question is, did the people saying that the world ends in 2012 take that into account? Maybe after going down the elevator today at the Daly center in Chicago and hearing another lawyer tell his buddy "I wish I could get a divorce, I just can't afford one" and seeing a husband beat up his wife outside the domestic battery room in the 16th floor just made this a Monday Morning to remember. Maybe these are the signs of the end. But seriously, if the Mayans heard us talking about their calendar and saw the way we humans act, they would probably offer us as a sacrifice.
ReplyDeleteThese are all very insightful comments and exactly the kind of conversation I would like to illicit on this page. Darlene, sure I'll marry you. Gerardo, You are correct we should teach only LOVE - and Bernie the Mayans would only sacrifice us with LOVE!
ReplyDeleteHey Lillian,
ReplyDeleteI meant to tell you I read your blog and then the next day in our local paper was an article about the end of days and all the different beliefs.
With all the recent turn of events in politics, economy and even my personal circle, I sometimes think the Mayans might have timed it right... :)