News Flash: World Ends

Apocalypse in fresco: Macedonia

This Sunday's Gospel Reading:

Jesus said to his disciples:
"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on earth nations will be in dismay,
perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will die of fright
in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen,
stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.

"Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life,
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man."
- Luke 21: 25-36

French Romanesque Apocalypse.

As you probably know if you follow this blog, I think it is absurd to worry about the end of the world. What difference does it make? The issues are the same issues we face at individual death, and that is certain to happen in our lifetimes. Moreover, for each of us, subjectively, the End of the World is functionally coterminous with our individual death.

So looking for signs in the sun, the moon and the stars is a fool’s game. There are always signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars. Nations are always in dismay. We need to always be prepared, regardless of such signs—because we could die at any moment, quite regardless of what happens in the world at large.

And I believe this is in fact what Jesus is talking about. This is the only way it is literally true that these things “will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth.”

The exercise of keeping in mind our own death, on the other hand, is a very wise one, one that has always had an important part in the Christian world view. The “Memento Mori” is a traditional genre of art.

A memento mori from the ruins of Pompeii

One of the things that struck me as most deranged, when I returned to Canada after seven years overseas, was how death seems to be a taboo subject. Everyone speaks and acts as if it is something abnormal, something which should never happen to them.

Memento mori on an English tombstone.

I suspect the current preoccupation with the end of the world is a result of this. Everyone thinks the world is about to end. There is this silly rumour that the ancient Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world for December 21 this year. And there are any number of fundamentalist Christian groups who announce the end every few years. Not to mention Catholics relying on Fatima’s Third Secret or the prophecies of St. Malachi. But more pernicious are the global warming crew, the population bomb throwers, the peak oil pundits, and the like.

Memento mori, Uffington Church, England.

It will happen when it happens, and in the meantime, it doesn’t make any difference to you or me.