What is it about human beings that makes us so relentlessly pursuant in mysterious matters? What is that makes us search and search and seek out that which is not fully understood? Why are we so inquisitive, prying, curious, and probing? What drives us to study the deepest crevasses of this planet, the dark side of the moon or the oceans of Europa? Is it built within us? Can we even help but ask questions, look for answers or paint pictures of what we believe is behind the curtain waiting to really be seen? Are we destined to search for the missing pieces of the puzzle for as long as they remain absent from the whole? What is it that makes us want to have everything figured out?
These aren’t new questions; well, okay, we have only known about the oceans of Europa for a little while, but the general questions of what’s out there have always been around. People have always looked out into space and wondered, “What, or who, is out there?” People have always asked, “What or who is waiting for me after I die?” From philosophers to peasants, politicians to philanthropists, all people have had questions that sometimes there just aren’t any answers to.
So I suppose it’s no surprise when we hear of people making claims to know when, why, and how the world is going to end. Of course by now you have all heard about Harold Camping and his non-profit organization “Family Radio”; if you are still here to read this, anyway.
The claim that the rapture would begin and the world would end, all starting May 21, 2011, has been circulating for some time. Mr. Camping has spent millions of dollars to put up billboards, paint the sides of semi-trucks and vans, and to pass out hundreds of thousands of pieces of literature. God would come back for only those who have truly repented and the rest of the world would be doomed to die in a horrible earth-ending cataclysm of divine proportions.
For most of the world, life was not affected by these claims. Most of America spent May 21 attending graduations, watching sports games, or enjoying the early summer weather. Many didn’t even know Harold Camping and his theory, his painting of a veiled future, even existed. However, there were those that bought into this idea. There were many who quit jobs, gave away possessions, and joined caravans to be in California with others for the moment the terrestrial hour glass would run out. A lot of good, honest, and trusting people all shared in question, “What if this is the end?”
Well, it wasn’t the end; as far as I can tell, anyway. The second of Harold Camping’s three predictions (the third being that the world will REALLY end on October 21 of this year) fell flat and unfulfilled. The 6 p.m. deadline came and went, and then midnight passed by as a ship sailing over the horizon, disappearing, leaving us with a feeling that it will never come back the same. As that night was reborn as a new day, a new question was asked by all those who believed in the intricate stories of Mr. Camping, “Well, what now?”
It is easy to point, laugh and mock all those involved with this wild goose chase. I know because I have done it a lot over the last few weeks; ever since I saw the infamous billboard telling me to get right with God for the end is near. Perhaps it was foolish for so many people to ask the question, “What if?” I certainly didn’t lose any sleep over the whole ordeal; I don’t plan on losing any sleep over his other predictions, either.
As easy as it is to laugh about these people who wondered if God would come back for them and preached to others to prepare for such a scenario; there is an undertow to the waves that we see. We see this man make these predictions, and watch all these people give up and change a lot of what they would call their normal lives. We look at these people and the one word that comes to a lot of people’s minds is “crazy”. However, something subtle happens when we watch all of this happen. Something that is subconscious, and we don’t even really notice, occurs and our schemas assimilate the information instantaneously. It's known by many serious and dedicated scientists as, "The Wolf Effect".
While it's a complicated and intricate scientific theory, to put it short and simple, it’s the exact same story as the boy who cried wolf. The people listened to this boy claim something terrible was going to happen and they all responded. Time after time the boy told false stories and time and time again people believed him. Yet each time when nothing happened, they felt tricked and decided they wouldn’t bother listening to the claims of the boy. The people came to associate the boy’s stories with lies and eventually stopped coming to his aid when he warned of something terrible.
Now, I am not saying we should be listening to Harold Camping. I think he has missed the point of God and his plan for this world; but we do need to be careful. Just because we think he might be crazy doesn’t mean that all who follow God and believe in his return are crazy. I worry that people will begin to associate the predictions of a guy who is lost and misguided with those who do not assume to make such inaccurate prophesies.
Don’t misunderstand me; I would not take the chance away from anyone to ask questions. I think that’s good and healthy, and even unavoidable. However, asking questions and claiming you have the answers to those questions and then ruining lives and ultimately making yourself and those who say they believe in God look like raving lunatics are two different matters. We need to be able to separate those who earnestly believe and those who look to exploit that same belief. We need to be able to discern when someone is crying wolf and when someone is speaking truth.
What I am saying is that we need to overlook the mistakes and even the misguided false prophets and not associate them with the real and true works of faith in God. I don’t want to talk about when I think Jesus will return, because I really don’t know. I will, however, talk about the love he has for me; that I can believe, in that I have no doubts. Don’t become desensitized to religion or faith because of all the rantings of those who claim to have it all figured out and then don’t. Don’t think that every guy who writes “The Bible Guarantees it” on a billboard is actually telling the truth.
God is bigger and deeper than the erroneous proclamations of the Harold Campings of the world. While Mr. Camping stands in the dark looking at the sky asking “Marco?” with no reply, God wants to show himself bigger than life to us here and now. We don’t need the obscure calculations of an old man that has missed the point. God has bigger plans than that; we just need to be looking in the right places.
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