Buck Up

In 1999 my father told me that the world was going to come to a screeching halt as the calendar rolled over into 2000. He was prepared. He made lots of bullets and stored them in his basement along with a bunch of canned goods. Bullets would be the new currency and if we wanted to survive we could come live in his basement with the rest of the family. This was not the first time the world was supposed to collapse. I vaguely remember in fifth grade being told the world was running out of oxygen and we would all die like fish laying on a hot sunny dock. There were other examples but I think you get the point.

Since the pandemic hit, I've been hearing others talk about global warming, pestilences and plagues, economic collapse and political

unrest. Some of it is even true.

Again, I return to the scriptures for clarity. People have been predicting the world's end practically since its inception. Consider Luke 21. It happened like this. A bunch of people were standing around admiring the Temple and Jesus took the opportunity to tell them that it was all going to end up in a heap of rubble. Jesus continues to hold no illusions. The crowd wanted to know when this would happen. I can only presume that wanted to know how long they had to make bullets and buy canned green beans.

Instead of sharing the date of destruction, Jesus reframed the problem. He told them to watch out for "doomsday deceivers" (The Message translation). He told them not to fall for such foolishness and said this specifically, "When you hear of wars and uprisings, keep your head and don't panic. This is routine history and no sign of the end." Routine history. Scary and painful and confusing history.

Nonetheless - do this. Keep your head. Don't panic. Buck up. Seems like good advice for 2021. Funny and wonderful and miraculous how timeless Jesus' words are for us.