Our journey...

With so much reluctance, I am publishing this piece. I am reluctant because the article contains matters pertaining to the metaphysical aspects of life, which tend to be controversial. But I would rather be stoned than cower in the dark.

Over the past week we have seen how 

nature unleashed its fury. It created a sudden upheaval in the earths tectonic plates causing an 8.9 magnitude earthquake that sent harrowing waves of sea-water into the island nation of Japan, virtually clearing away everything on its path like grains of sand.
The impending threat was huge enough causing the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to raise the alert levels on most Asia-Pacific countries that day. Huge wall of water slammed japanese seawalls and sent its fury as far as 10 kilometers inland washing away, houses, buildings, cars; leaving hundreds of Japanese dead and thousands more injured; and destroying several of Japan's nuclear reactors ensuing a collective fear of nuclear meltdown never before heard since Chernobyl. Reportedly, the earthquake was the strongest in recorded history. 

If there is one thing that these events bring, other than those mentioned above, is the current air of fear and paranoia. For some people, thoughts that the world is about to end pervade. A few days ago, I chatted with an old friend and our conversation did not end without him mentioning to me his own fear and the "much-dreaded" signs of the times. Earthquakes, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown--they don't necessarily bring about this gloomy countenance, they just tend to exacerbate it. There has been a bounty of end time prophecies going around even before these catastrophic events.

Not too long ago, I came across an articles posted on the CNN website detailing the journey of the so-called Project Caravan, whose main purpose, according to the article, is to proclaim the most "amazing news" of Jesus' coming. A website dedicated to end time prophecy was even put up by leaders of this group to warn the people of the world's coming to an end. These are Christian groups whose leaders are purportedly having the sole and exclusive knowledge of the Bible as to claim the exact date of God's coming. You can read the full article here (click it).

On the contrary, haven't we been told that "the day of the Lord will come like a thief" (2 Peter 3:10 NIV); and that "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (Matthew 24:36, NIV). So we must guard ourselves against these kinds of people. We don't really know what there intentions or their motivations are. Matthew 7:15 says, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves" (NIV).

There is something about our walk in this world that we need to understand. This walk is a journey for a specific end. And yet, it is not much as to how the journey ends, but rather, as to how the journey goes. I like how Ursula K. LeGuin puts it: "It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end". If we have done our journey in the best possible manner, it wouldn't even matter when and where it is going to end at all. Our walk in faith with God is the most important aspect in this journey. For that reason, the coming of the Lord is a great time for rejoicing rather than a dreadful cataclysmic event, for all Christians.

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Copyright © 2011 by Leonel Agir