Signs

"Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."

-Revelations 7:3

 

Some believe that some of the signs we see today are pointing to 12/12/2012 being the end of the world, but people from the past have wrongly predicted dates that have already come and gone, so there's little reason to be certain that date is it.  Either way, it shouldn't matter because we should always be doing what we are supposed to be doing because we don't know when our life is going to end (which is infinitely more important than when the world is going to end because each of us has a soul and the world does not).  I could even see the argument for God showing people things that may be interpreted as the signs if it gets more people to convert before they die, whether the world ends then or not. 

 

I saw a rerun of Taxi once when the hippie cab driver Jim made all these predictions about fellow cab driver Alex, some of which seemed to be coming true like a beautiful girl falling into his arms - she got knocked over in a crowded restaurant.  The trouble was the end of the dream was also the end of Alex: Thursday, 8 PM in his apartment.  Now Alex didn't believe in superstition, but their boss Louie was concerned and didn't want Alex to be home at 8 PM that night.  Alex wasn't planning on being there anyway because he had a date with the girl, but then she cancelled at the last minute.  Still, as Louie tried to convince him otherwise, Alex was set on doing what he would have done if there was no prediction, which was watch TV at home, especially since the other predictions leading up to his death seemed so ridiculous: being mistaken for a girl and then wearing a dress doing the can-can.  Of course, a wrong number asking for "Susan" put Louie over the edge.  Alex was so fed up about trying to convince Louie that there was no such thing as fate, that he was going to tempt fate: he put on a dress and started the can-can when his clock chimed 8 PM and nothing happened.  Louie was about to apologize when there was a slow, but firm knock-knock-knock at the door.  Despite Louie's pleas, Alex opened the door only to find a girl scout selling cookies.  There was nothing to the predictions.

 

I suppose the first paragraph would have served the purpose of this entry, but I really enjoy telling the Taxi story.  In any case, I hope all of us get that seal on our foreheads if we are around for the end times.  I know the mark that they used to indicate the chosen in Ezekiel was a Tau.  Franciscans, like me, wear a Tau as a sign that we are Franciscan (which should mean we are part of the chosen just like others who wear traditional crosses or other signs of their faith).