End of the World

This weekend my daughter taped a cable tv show on the prophesies of Nostradamas. I caught a little bit of the show while I was working on balancing my check book and paying the bills. I was intrigued by the historical aspects of the show. Nostradamas was a French astrologer who came up with his quatrains, some say, as a way to criticize his contempories. Some say that his prophesies prove something else, a great insight into the future.

At one point in the show the narrator stated that Nostradamas had picked 1997 as the date that the world would end. I know that a lot of people have written about this prospect in the past. I have a friend who stated to me once that the creation of the state of Israel was the beginning of the end of the world. I have known this guy for thirty years and I know him to be a sane individual and not one prone to chicken little prophesies. I asked him about it and he stated that the end might not be what we think. He said that most people might not even notice.

I was struck by the year 1997 because I had just posted, a couple of days ago, a post about the death of John Denver in October of 1997. I admired John Denver for his concern for the environment and I thought him to be a great humanitarian. I mentioned in that post that Mother Theresa, Princess Diana and Jacques Cousteau had all died within a few months of each other. I stated that I, at the time, thought it interesting that the powers that be in the universe thought we were doing well enough that they could take these great humanitarians from us. I guessed that we, as humans, must be doing ok.

Well, now I am not too sure. If Nostradamas was right and the world did end in 1997, then the deaths of those great humanitarians were a calling home. I am not much of a religious scholar, but could the "rapture" have happened and we didn't notice? I just don't know. But then, what of the rest of us? What are we doing? Is this our own little purgatory?

I am not a very religious person. I was raised a catholic but I haven't really been to church in a very long time. For a variety of reasons. My wife and I have tried to go back to the church but there was always something that happened that spoke to us and let us know that perhaps this wasn't a good time. I do, however, feel that I am looking for some guidance and I do occasionally pray to God to help me make decisions or to help me through some hard times. I don't know how much He is looking after me but I hope that He is close enough to help me when I really need Him.

But I digress. I mainly was getting to the question of the end of the world. I don't know that much about the scriptures to help me answer that question. I do know, however, that I know a great many good people who would have been "called home" in 1997 if that year had truly been the end of the world. Not being very knowledgeable on the subject I cannot speak with any authority about the end of the world. But if the world did end, someone forgot a lot of good people.

I really think that we are all still plugging away very diligently and the world did not end. Everyday we are all involved in a constant struggle at making our lives work. Some days are a lot harder for me than others but I think that is the nature of life. We all have our own little dramas to live out. I think that is the gist of it. Life is subjective.

And that brings me to my point. I don't really know anything. I try to get through each day safely, with the right moral decisions and with good health. I try to take care of my family. I try to educate my kids to the ways of the world. Sometimes I think I am a failure yet at others I feel as though I have done something useful and good.

To those of you who are reading this, e-mail me and let me know if I am right, wrong or completely out of my mind. I am beginning to ramble now and I don' t remember my original premise. Straighten me out on this, will ya? I would appreciate it. Thanks for listening.
D.