"And in the morning It shall be foul weather, for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?"
"… those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven… then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be… nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom… there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth… smiting of fellow servants who eat and drink with the drunken… When ye shall see all these things, know that it (the end) is near, even at the door." From "Da Bible," by Various Apostles.
Actually, it was more "Hell" than "Last Days" in Yuma. The frenetic "media" didn't help, with their forecasting… revising… reforesting… revising, then postponing… postponing. Geeze Louise, I was so worn ragged and on edge from the dire forecast that the Apocalypse itself was a piece of cake. Nothing worse than being pinned down by "presumption" in Yuma, Arizona… quoting scripture. Speaking of false presumptions…
I was reminded of my childhood while concocting this post, about what it was like growing up in an atmosphere of Atomic Bombs and zealous religiosity where, from my point of view, everything fun was a "sin." My family's day to day existence revolved around whether we would be raptured out of our fear and loathing lives before being nuked by Nikita "We-Will-Bury-You" Khrushchev. Remember the air-raid drills, how we were told to huddle under our school desks? As if that would save us from an Atomic Holocaust.
Lord. I remember a schoolmate whose dad replaced the backyard pool with a bomb shelter and stocked it with food and water. My friend and I would sit underground eating canned peaches and talk about our imminent destruction, wondering what it would be like to die from radiation poisoning should we be "lucky" enough to escape the blast. Then I'd walk home only to hear Mom and Dad talk about the tragedy of missing "second coming" over meatloaf and mashed potatoes… all the poor souls who would be left behind, get the Mark of the Beast burned onto their foreheads: 666.
"Stay right with Jesus, Mark."
"Okay Mom, I will."
It all reminds me of a passage Jim likes to quote from Persig's, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. "When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called a Religion.”
Anymore, I don't worry about the Rapture, or that "The Russians are Coming," or whether I'm going to Heaven or Hell; I had enough of that growing up. Well intentioned parents have been replaced by well intentioned Doctor's who now caution that I'm just a bike crash or stumble away from death. Funny thing is, I just keep on waking up :)
"Stay right with Jesus, Mark"
"Sorry Mom."
Cheers from Anza Borrego… stumbling over mountains and biking like there's no tomorrow… cause someday the Doctors might be right. If my parents were right, we're all in trouble.
 |
| The Dust Cometh… |
 |
| Scorched Earth, The end is nye… |
 |
| Before the storm… |
That's sounds a lot like my you as well. But w made it this far and are still upright and breathing.
ReplyDeleteWe are enjoying Imperial Dam as well, perfect spot on Quail Hill. And a drive over to Mittry lake yesterday, looks sad after the fire.
Gonna have a heat wave by the weekend looks good.
I always like your realistic takes on religion Mark.....
ReplyDeleteI am more afraid of what can happen from a bad fall that doesn't kill me. I have already been down that road once and a repeat is not welcome.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Miami during the Cuban Missile Crisis and clearly remember crouching under my little wooden desk during the air raid drills. Terrifying. But fortunately I didn't have the double whammy of being terrified by tales of the coming Rapture. I think I would have needed a lot of therapy to overcome that one….actually, hiking and kayaking works even better.
ReplyDeleteHad to laugh. You may want to check out a new TV show, "You, Me, And the Apocalypse". It's weirdly amusing with a quirky Vatican angle among others. Rock On and keep defying expectations.
ReplyDeletewe will all see the end of the world one at a time at least for each of us...
ReplyDeleteWe know weather can get foul ANYWHERE, so we play scrabble or tell jokes,or.....read emails or blogs or watch online videos. Be happy it's not gonna snow in Yuma, but be careful not venturing farther north into the high country....then you might end up building snowmen or entire snow families. Beware!
ReplyDelete"Anymore, I don't worry about the Rapture, or that "The Russians are Coming," or whether I'm going to Heaven or Hell; I had enough of that growing up. Well intentioned parents have been replaced by well intentioned Doctor's who now caution that I'm just a bike crash or stumble away from death. Funny thing is, I just keep on waking up :)"
ReplyDeleteLove this post. Stop worrying about the "Storm", and enjoy the "Calm before" it.. :-)
I remember "duck and cover" but thank goodness no fire and brimstone. Gotta' live for the day, to the fullest. I know you get that. Enjoy AB.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in spite of all that too. Now my religion is nature. And if there really is a hell, at least all my friends will be there.
ReplyDeleteGlad I missed all that childhood doom and gloom by a decade! My father was in the Navy but politics were never discussed at home and they still don't talk about current world or political events when we get together. Probably a good thing since our views are on opposite sides.
ReplyDeleteHey...I see you made up on Senator Wash. Was the hike up to the turquoise mine?
ReplyDeletego Broncos
ReplyDelete