Sacred Space. . .: Rapture Eve?

At this moment, I'm writing a blog post in St. Arbucks. (Did you know that St. Arbucks is the patron saint of coffee?) For me, it's a calm Friday, as most Fridays are for me. I take a break from the office, from the hustle and bustle of tasks that must be done, from the typical structure of daily work. At the very least, my pace is slower. I reflect. I laugh. I connect with friends.

But for some people today, this Friday is one of final frenzy. It is a day to finalize priorities, to make ready, and to proclaim to the world that this day is their last. For a small, though vocal, number of Christians, this Friday is the last typical day that they or we will know. They believe that Saturday, May 21st is the day of their rapture and the beginning of a five month period of apocalypse for the rest of the world. That, of course, makes today Rapture Eve.

The Rapture is a conviction that some Christians share, a belief that they and believers like them will be suddenly removed from this earth before a great tribulation that will mark the end of the present age and the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. Though believers in the rapture point to some particular scriptures in the Bible for support of this doctrine, this belief is a relatively new one in the span of 2000 years of Christian theological history.

But beyond the number of Christians who believe in the rapture, a much smaller minority holds more specific beliefs: It's tomorrow. It will follow an earthquake, and suddenly, these believers will be caught up in the air together with Jesus, gone from this earth. The rest of us will be in dismay.

Where is this coming from?

The May 21st conviction is coming out of the teachings of Harold Camping, an 89 year old evangelist who lives in Boulder, Colorado. He has used Bible-based numerology to predict the dates for the rapture and the destruction of the universe exactly five months later. The Wikipedia page for the 2011 End Times Prediction gives his rationale in more detail. He and those who share his convictions have been creating billboards and advertisements to warn us all of this destruction. "The Bible guarantees it," they say.

The news about May 21st has come into public awareness. Some are a little nervous, many people are laughing, and others are simply shrugging their shoulders. Other Christians quote Jesus who says that "No one will know the day or the hour," not even him. But all of this causes me to ask a question - a simple but important question even as I do something so routine as live a calm Friday in Starbucks. What if we paid as close of attention to life as these Christians pay attention to death and destruction for the world?

I need to ask myself that question. These vocal Christians are putting forth so much time, energy, attention, and effort to know with absolute certainty the day and the hour of the end. What if you and I put forth that kind of time, energy, attention, and effort to be present to today - even in the lack of certainty, precisely the lack of certainty? What if we really lived for now right in the midst of the ambiguities? What if we were making ready to truly live?

From my own Christian perspective, perhaps these questions call me to make ready and to see Jesus coming, returning, appearing, and showing up right in the midst of daily activities - not necessarily where I expect him, but perhaps exactly where I don't. Perhaps I can pay attention and see Christ in the faces and lives of those close to me, those who are unknown strangers, and those who are even enemies.

What if I paid attention? What if you and I lived in that kind of anticipation?

In my own opinion, today is not Rapture Eve, but we are always on the verge of Christ's coming.