Some thoughts on the end of the world.
As we see more and more evil happening on TV and around the world, I keep getting asked what I think about the world ending soon. New TV series seem to pop up almost daily dealing with The End Times or “Left Behind” types of Movies.
So I must ask; Is it all just a great big Disney Fun House ride? (Think “Pirates of the Caribbean” or “It’s a Small World After All”)
Perhaps this world and this life is all set up just to see what your actions and reactions will be. Maybe everyone deflates when you leave the room and it’s only you and God all along. Not to say that others don’t matter. Because they do (more than anything), but maybe they’re just part of the big ride.
We are all so concerned about the end of the Fun House itself rather than the end of our individual ride in it. Who cares when the ride is retired and put away? We better care more about when our own Fun House cart pulls up to the exit ramp. What kind of state are we in then? How did we react to the characters along the way?
Maybe the people and situations we meet daily are part of God’s vetting program to see if we are the kind of people with which He wants to share eternity. Of course He loves us, but He is checking to see if we can and will choose to love Him, through others. How do we demonstrate selflessness over selfishness? It’s a learning process.
How many times have we heard stories of saints who helped out a stranger in need and then the stranger disappeared? Or the saint is told by Christ Himself that it was really Him in disguise? What is that all about? If this whole life is not a proving ground for the next?
So, yes pay close attention to those around you. Meet their personal, spiritual, and temporal needs as best you can. But don’t be surprised when the ride is over for you. Keep your eyes on that ending rather than the Fun House burning down!
Hopefully the guy who took your ticket and strapped you in at the beginning, will offer you a hand up and out of your little Fun House cart as He speaks the words we are all “dying” to hear, “Well done good and faithful servant… now enter into the home of my Father”.