World Ending Blood Moon



Time seemed deliberately slow as I watched last Sunday’s blood moon. As I waited, I thought about all of those prophetic warnings the blood moon signified—global unrest, financial disasters, food shortages, even the beginning of the end of the world. Some of those warnings are warranted—there are food shortages, global unrest; even unrest in our communities, financial disasters, and without question, there's evil. 

But Monday came, not the end of the world.

Christians aren’t the only faith groups that talk about the end-times, but it seems for some Christians it takes on an urgency that others view as whacky. Especially when we read about some living in bunkers waiting for God’s pending judgment on the world.





In full disclosure, during Y2K, I purchased food supplies ahead of the computer crash crisis. January 2000 arrived without dire consequences and eventually we ate the extra food. Lesson learned. But frequent world-ending predictions don’t help our Christian cause.

Even Jesus didn’t know when the end of the world would be. Rather than worry about it, he said to get busy doing the work he wanted us to do—taking care of the widows and the orphans. There are many poor, sick, and hurting who could use us.







The Book of Revelation’s apocalyptic predictions sell lots of books, make exciting movies, and propel some to go into hiding. But those prophetic words are meant to warn believers that there is work to do and we don’t know how much time we have to do it.

Yes, there are warnings to heed, but we can easily worry so much about the future, that we waste the time we have now.

Back when I was a teen we sang a song that said, “They will know we are Christians by our love.” I’d like to be known for love not false alarms.

Popular posts from this blog

Counting the Cost

Image
Something big is missing in this photo. Let me explain. Here in my hometown, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe prepared a parcel of land for a new hotel. Plenty of planning and architectural designs were evaluated. A gemstone of a hotel would be built across from the waterfront—a beautiful, restful place welcoming travelers. A true four-star facility.   They cleared the aging brick structures that had been fading away between Front Street and Railroad Avenue. Then the pandemic hit, shortages of labor and supplies, add in the costly inflation that followed. Everything stopped.   But this is what I admire about the Elwha Tribe: they have counted the cost. They didn’t want to move forward and take on tremendous debt. They would rather move slowly and be financially ready, rather than begin building and then letting it sit unfinished.   Counting the cost is something I should have done earlier in life when I didn’t know what high interest rates would do to our farming cost...
Read more

Summertime Music

Image
During the summer months, in an outside seating area, a delightfully painted piano sits with a sign that says, “Play me”.   It was just before 8 pm as I walked past the piano. My bus would be arriving soon, and I still have another ten minutes to walk before reaching my bus stop. But no one is around. It’s a beautiful warm evening. I pulled out the piano bench and sat down. The sun was behind me, and the piano keys reflected its glow. I had no music in front of me, only the songs within me. Notes drifted into the air.  In those brief moments, the magic of music and summer came together. Isn’t that how it is? Summertime music has a way of lingering in our minds and lasting a lifetime. As I stood and grabbed my things, I heard distant clapping—I guess I wasn’t alone, after all.
Read more

Planting Good Seeds

Image
Harvest will always depend on what we plant and how well we care for our crop.    Looking over my seed packets, I notice they’re different than the ones I planted before. One package is called Word seeds. The directions say that each of my words is a seed, so it cautions me to think before I speak. Harsh words don’t produce sweet, nourishing fruit. These seeds will require thoughtful care in the garden. I see some Volunteer seeds. Those extra hours I tend to fritter away are going to be planted in a useful project.   It looks like time isn’t wasted in this garden plot. Next are some Love seeds—the directions are interesting: get up each day and love others. No specifics are given—just do something for someone every day. The seed package shows pictures of smiling faces. I smile back. As I’m ready to head to the garden with my seeds, a package falls to the ground. I open it. Inside are the tiniest seeds I’ve ever seen—but the directions s...
Read more