A few thoughts on the Apocalypse... and Advent

That's an understated title, isn't it? You may be wondering what I'm doing focusing on the Apocalypse today, especially in the holiday season... I mean, Thanksgiving couldn't have been that traumatic, right? Right, I actually had a really good Thanksgiving with my family, not to mention a rather tasty turkey (I discovered brining!).

I am thinking of the Apocalypse for a few reasons. First, have you noticed some of the hysteria these days in anticipation of the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012? Consider Roland Emmerich's widely panned movie, the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's bleak post apocalyptic novel, The Road , not to mention the threatening prophecies that Jesus utters in the last few chapters of Luke's gospel prior to his crucifixion in Jerusalem-- (the readings of the past week's liturgy)it's all a bit foreboding to say the least. A month or so ago, I had to take a taxi cab in NYC (talk about feeling like it was going to be the end of the world!) and when the driver saw that I was a priest, he became very serious and asked if I believed all the things written in the book of Revelation. It seems that there is something of the end-time anxiety in the air these days... and in fact, perhaps reassuringly, this has been the case at turning points throughout human history.

As a matter of human nature, individually and collectively, it easy to become overwhelmed by what appears to be the bad news... violence, poverty, hunger, the deterioration of civility let alone virtue. While there may be more than a proportional number of constructive, altruistic, and compassionate acts performed on a daily basis to offset the destructive ones, these will rarely grab the headlines. Thus, we will rarely have the benefit of such stories to inspire and edify us... indeed, we have to go out of our ways to hear and pass along such good news. Unless we have a natural, buoyant optimism, or perhaps more importantly, a deep store of faith, it is natural that we become preoccupied with the things that we fear... and thus we search for meaning and some compass for our uncharted lives in the unfolding of history. We long for someone or something to save us personally and collectively.

If I am not mistaken, this is the source of what we might call the apocalyptic imagination, the hope for all this deterioration and decline to be stopped and reversed by a Divine act that punishes evil doers and rewards the just. Implicitly, the apocalyptic imagination relies on dualistic, either/or thinking to create clarity and certainty out of very complex and ambiguous realities. While there is some evidence to suggest that Jesus himself employed some of these images, and there is a rich biblical tradition of such images in the apocalyptic literature of the scriptures I am going to suggest that we be very careful, discerning even, in what we do with such images.

It is true that the power of apocalyptic metaphors, for people of faith at least, is not that they inspire fear and trembling, but rather, that they reaffirm a profound confidence in God's providence, wisdom, and judgment. In essence, they affirm that as dark as things become, and however much we are suffering in the short term due to our acts of integrity and compassion, that God has the future in God's own Divine safekeeping. Thus, we persevere in faith, hope, and love despite the adversity we experience... we hold fast and stay steady in unsteady times. This is a very, very important and valuable message, and one worth respecting.

At the same time, in much of the apocalyptic clamor, whether in the popular media or in the sometimes reprehensible fear mongering in pulpits, there is not so much a call to faith and conversion as there is to infantalizing dependence on demagogic preachers and to a condemning judgment of others. This is simply not the work of the Holy Spirit. And what's more, it is subverting precisely the kind of transformation, personal and collective, that the apocalyptic literature is meant to inspire.

It is no accident that as the ordinary time of the church year comes to a close, we recall Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem prior to his death, and come face to face with predictions of cataclysm that reflect our deepest fears and concerns for the future. On this threshold of Advent, the season of spiritual preparation for the celebration of Christmas, the urgency and foreboding of the apocalyptic literature are not meant to scare us straight so much as inspire us to hold fast in faith that God is a God of Love, that our desire to grow more free from fear, from attachments, and from disorder within our hearts are all a response to that Love.

As we begin the Advent journey again this year, let us do so carrying the flame of faith with us, be steadfast in doing good despite the ways of the world, and stay awake to every opportunity to grow into Christ's own image and likeness, that this Christmas is as much a celebration of Christ's renewing birth within our own consciousness in the present as it is a recollection of God's becoming human long ago.