Are you kidding? Apparently not... I ran across this ad for T-shirts:
"Don’t miss out on your chance to purchase a Judgement Day 2011 'Rapture Ready' t-shirt TODAY! With limited time left before May 21 Judgement Day, you can still order this shirt and receive it by May 21 Doomsday. Your friends will love it! Click here to buy your 'Rapture Ready T-Shirt'."
It also said, "$18.90 for Very Limited Time." These are plain white t-shirts with the two words "Rapture Ready" across the front. The simplicity should impress Jesus... or, maybe these are for those who don't want to be mistaken for non-believers.
One kind-hearted anonymous blogger says that s/he has prepared post-dated blog entries that will go out following the 21st. These will help those who are left behind to cope with the mess of things until October 21st (after the rapture, but before the final end). One bit of "good news," if I'm reading this right, is that being saved and raptured on May 21st doesn't necessarily depend on believing in this prophecy, but having faith in Jesus Christ.
I know we'd like a sense of control, especially in the middle of the seeming chaos. Perhaps that is a part of the allure of end-time predictions. And with so much more awareness about the violence and natural catastrophies, it's very tempting to connect the dots to the Biblical wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes. "Ah, see, now it all makes sense!"
There is a lot of anxiety, even a desire to escape it all. There is a bit of gnosticism in all of us that sometimes can't see the good in God's creation through all the haze of its corruption, aging, and corrosion. It can be hard at times to see Jesus and resurrection life here and now, and (with creation) we do groan for that great Day when there will be no tears, suffering or death.
And yet, it is moments like the above in which I have most profoundly experienced the presence of God, and the redemptive care and compassion of God through us. The kingdom is already at hand. If this weekend is the final end, or the beginning of the end? As my mom says: "Oh well!" Even at the end of times, I trust God to continue being the loving, compassionate, patient, merciful, self-giving, just, fair and right God that Jesus embodied. "There is no shadow of turning with thee." He is not two different gods. God is not a coin with two sides or personalities.
Well, okay then. Rapture ready: trusting God. Trusting the promises and forgiveness and love lived out and embodied by Jesus. If that's what I need to be ready, I don't suppose a t-shirt is going to win any extra points. God has already given what is needed, especially at the end. "All I have needed thy hand hath provided."
And if we wake to May 22, 2011 to find that there was no rapture? That's okay, too. Apparently, this May 21st prediction corrects a previous miscalculation (1994). I'm sure another adjustment will be found. (However, you would think folks would eventually apply Deuteronomy 18:22 to Mr. Harold Camping's prophetic abilities and--as kindly and forgivingly as possible--take away his microphone.)
Luckily, the t-shirts I saw were undated. Maybe they can even be delivered second-hand to our December 21, 2012 advocates. That, by the way, is a whole 'nother blog entry about opportunists...
God love us... and forgive us... and he does... thank God!
