Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Un-Raptured

May 21st came and went uneventfully.  To me, it is what I both expected and kind of hoped for.  I really would like to spend more time here with friends and family, doing the things that provide fulfillment and.  I really look forward to meeting and getting to know grandchildren at some point.  I am not sure if there is ever a good time for the world to end.  May 21, 2011 just did seem like it was the time.
Perhaps none of us are any good and we were all left behind. Gee, I am pretty sure that is not the case. I know some very good exemplary people that would have been taken up.  

This whole end of the world thing did create a certain amount of buzz.  My little blog piece http://t.co/PzXQCg6, The Rapture - May 21, 2011,  had a record number of hits.  Well it had a record number of hits for my blogs.  In one day, it became the most read posting ever. I was amazed to see that 350 people read it.  I had a really teeny little glimpse of what going viral must be like.

Clearly I was not alone in my fascination with this event that did not happen.  I read one article in the Washington Post over the weekend of what people were planning or not planning to do.  My favorite were some young people who were recruiting others via social media to leave clothes strewn about, full outfits, to give the illusion that people were raptured right out of their clothes.  If they had been able to pull that stunt off on any grand scale, I am sure it would have really freaked out some people.  There were others that were planning to spend time in worship with others feeling the same way.  The vast majority of folks simply went about doing whatever it was they had planned.

We were in Washington DC to celebrate my son’s 30th birthday.  He and his wife live in Georgetown.  It happened to be Georgetown University’s Graduation on May 21.  People had travelled from all over the United States and the world to be with the children or grandchildren who were graduated.  I did see one of those sign toting “the end is near” cross between a street monk and homeless person.  While his sign was predicting our demise, he seemed oblivious to all the hype about May 21.  His sign was what they call “evergreen.”  I am sure he is using the same sign today without modifying it one little bit.

I read about people who firmly believed that The Rapture was going to happen and that they were going to Raptured.  These people liquidated all their assets to advertise the coming of this end.  There were stories of people that ran up their credit cards touring the US before they were Raptured up.  They all believed so strongly that money become worthless to them.  I had conjectured the same, but I only conjectured.  I wonder how those folks are feeling today.  Yikes,  not only do they feel let down that nothing happened but now their finances are in shambles.  They have to figure out a way to re-group and move forward.

This whole thing was due a 89 year old evangelist named Harold Camping.  He went into seclusion as soon as he realized that The Rapture would not be happening on the day he has been predicting for months.  He emerged today expressing that he was totally “flabbergasted” and “astounded” that The Rapture did not occur.   While he was expressing how disappointed he and his followers were, his radio network quietly retooled their branding that seems to include not mentioning The Rapture affair at all.  

Camping went on to say that God decided not to torture those left behind for five months but rather to make the event, when it does come, happen all in one day.   I am a bit impressed that the Almighty shares such top level strategic information with him.  In reality, it seems as if Harold Camping is trying to extend his fifteen minutes of fame.

He did not deserve the first fifteen minutes and certainly should not be granted any kind of extension.

I am glad everyone I know and care for is still around.

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