According to a noisy few, this is the last day of the world. They believe that today an earthquake will happen and it will take another five weeks (or is it months?) before all of those who don't believe that Jesus is Lord will die.
I've thought a lot about the end of the world. Without humans and computers, who would be around to care that I ever existed? No one would know that I wrote songs and published stories. No one would care about all of these pieces of paper lying in stacks everywhere. No one would be around to throw thousands of pictures and mementos of my life into the trash.
It wouldn't matter what I do or don't do today, because no one would be around to remember what I did or didn't do. And if I'm going to die anyway, what's the point of eating healthy meals, getting plenty of exercise and sleeping eight hours every night? With no one to remember, I wouldn't have to check my mouth at the door before I enter a room. In fact, I wouldn't have to go anywhere or do anything. That sounds like a delightful life.
Instead of the world ending tomorrow, thus proving that those crazy evangelicals knew their stuff, I would rather believe that if the world ends soon, it will be on December 21, 2012, the day the Mayan calendar ends. Even if the world keeps on going, I am resigned and resolved that just like bugs and dogs, humans have a life span. I've never known anyone who survived this life.
What happens to me after death doesn't bother me. It's what happens before my death that I care about. My worst fear about the pre-dying period is that I will die with dementia. If that happens, my worst fears are that I would (1) answer to the name on my birth certificate--the name I changed 25 years ago, and (2) forget that I'm an agnostic and end up praying to Jesus and repenting at the soothing persuasion of some Christian chaplain sitting by my bed whispering in my ear.
It's important to note that Jesus was portrayed in the Bible as an apocalyptic believer, telling his disciples that the end of the world might come while they are still alive--in other words, SOON! Read Bart Ehrman's book God's Problem for more about that subject.
So what would I be doing right now if I knew today would be the last day of the world? Exactly what I'm doing right now: sitting at the computer in my nightgown writing this piece on my blog. And if the world doesn't end today, how will I live out my life span? See paragraph #3. Hee hee!
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