January-February 1999
Just what do you mean - END TIMES?
Elder and Youth often met in the park to talk. In the safe companionship of Elder, Youth quietly expressed fears and questions about life that he could express nowhere else.
Today after settling down on the bench to watch children at play and to feel the sunshine on their backs, Youth softly said to Elder, "Yesterday at church the preacher said that we are the last generation before Jesus comes back."
by Sandy Fiedler
Youth shifted his position. "He said that North America has gone bad. He cited the evidence: violence and immorality. He talked about natural disasters like earthquakes and floods. Does he mean that because our nations seem to be going down the tube, Jesus has to come back and end the world?"
Elder smiled and slowly shook his head. "Well, son, he certainly is giving America and Canada a great deal of credit for being God's favorite nations. I mean, lots of bad things have happened in the history of the world. What is happening today in North America breaks my heart, but it is not new to the history of humankind, just new to us.
"Two questions come to mind: 1.) Is the moral deterioration of Canada and the United States enough to make Jesus return?
2.) Why do good Canadians and Americans, and we still have a lot of them left, do so little to help their nations? Do they think that by retreating from the world they can speed up the downhill slide and make Jesus return sooner?"
Elder stopped talking and looked like he wanted to cry.
Taking a deep, slow breath, he went on, "Son, there have always been wars, violence, immorality and disasters in the world.
"When the Black Plague appeared in China in the fourteenth century killing tens of millions of people, it spread westward, wiping out one-third of Europe. People thought it was the end. Was that not bad enough to make Jesus come back? When Europe was ravaged in World War I and World War II and millions of Jews, Poles and Ukranians were killed in the Holocaust, was that not enough?
"Right now Christians are being persecuted and killed by the thousands in China. Is China not important enough to cause Jesus to return? In Afghanistan, in Cuba, in Africa, innocent are people suffering under cruel governments. Are the United States and Canada more important than these nations?
"Do natural disasters mean Christ is returning? There have always been earthquakes. Read your history. We just have more ways of detecting them now and more populated areas are affected. The Mississippi River has always flooded. Read the 1884 book Huckleberry Finn where Mark Twain describes a flood. That was before the Corps of Engineers straightened out miles of the river. Now it wants to go back to its natural meandering way.
"Hey," he added, "suffering and natural disasters might straighten some people out if they get scared enough, don't you think?"
Youth smiled a little and said: "The preacher scared me when he said that Jesus would come soon, like it would be next year or something. I don't mean to sound selfish, but I want to have a chance to live my life."
"Son," said Elder, "don't worry. The preacher means well, but he doesn't know when Jesus will come back. No one does. Jesus himself assured us of that. Many people who believe that the end is near have retirement plans and college savings for their children.
"At the approach of the year 1000 A.D., some people went wild, believing the end was at hand. More recently, someone predicted that the end would be in 1988 and then in 1989. The year 2000 is a nice round number that is bringing out a lot of predictions, especially with the Y2K computer glitch and all. Wait and see." He looked at Youth.
"Look toward tomorrow. Live a good life in the darkness of a nation that never quite had its bearings. And, as far as the doomsayers go, if trouble comes to us after we have lived right and fought the good fight, then so what? Nothing can sneak up and surprise God, can it? Not even death. Remember the little song, 'He's got the whole world in His hands'?"
Elder put his arm around Youth, who could feel strength and warmth overflow into him. What a wonderful world, Youth thought. And it's not over yet.
Texas resident Sandy Fiedler has been published in many Christian publications.