End of the World?

My Mayan Necklace

(If I remember right from our trip to the Tulum Mayan Ruins, 

this is a letter of the alphabet... Maybe the letter "S"?) 

Yesterday I was listening to some discussion on KLOVE regarding fear of the supposed end of the world as some think is predicted by the Mayan Calendar.  I've hardly thought about all that and was kind of surprised to hear such discussion.  It made me wonder if that many people really are worried about this.  Have you heard much talk of worry about the world ending this month?

The discussion included questions about what you'd do if you knew you had a short time to live.  What would you do with that time?  Of course, working with cancer patients as well as hospice patients, I've thought about this type of question before.  For me, I think I'd pretty much carry on as usual as long as possible.  I'd want my family close; I'd want Ben and Sara to come here from North Carolina, but those are things I always want so that's not different.

Last week, while getting a patient ready for his procedure, he was talking about the little things going wrong with his body as he ages.  He said that sometimes he just wonders if this is all there is to life.  Do we just get older, sicker and then die?  It made me feel so sad for him.  We talked for some time about faith and hope and the peace that comes with that.  He told me he is a Christian, just one that is grappling with belief. I get that.

Those two discussions were both about the end of life as we know it.  The first is about the end of life for all of us at once while the second was about the end of an individual life.  Either way, should we be worried?

I don't think the world will end 12-21-12. Biblically it sounds as though the end of the world will be more of a surprise, not an internationally publicized event.  It just doesn't matter to me so much.

The gentleman grappling with his faith was distraught over the bad things that happen in this world, the evil that we all know and deal with on some level.  As a believer, I know that this world is not where I belong.  Please click here to read about my life's theme song.  If you'd rather, click here to listen to the song that says it all for me and maybe will be helpful to you as well.

You see, my individual death or the end of the world means an end to chaos and evil for me.  We are here for a purpose; we have work to do.  When that work is done, though, the best is yet to come.  The horrible things of this world will be no more.  When we get HOME to live with God our Father, we will truly have the luxury of peace.  What's to fear about that?