Tuesday 11 December 2012

Countdown to the End

Well I guess you know what today marks, right?  According to 2012 doomsday believers, there's only ten days left until the end of time (aside: check out some doomsday preppers on youtube for an interesting watch).  I'm not a global doomsdayer, but I find it interesting to consider different approaches to the end.  What would you do if if there were only ten days left until some global catastrophe and almost certain destruction?

While I am not convinced always preparing for the worst case scenario is a good way to live one's life, it does lend some perspective that I think can be useful.  Even though I don't think Dec. 21, 2012 has any significance beyond being the shortest day of the year and the end of a cycle in the Mayan calendar (like Dec. 31 in our calendar) I have no doubt that it will be the end of the line for some people - probably about 150,000 people (global death rate/day according to several sources).

Many of us are very quick to dismiss specific doomsday predictions, rightfully so, how many times was the world supposed to have ended in the past couple of years?  Just as always living with the end in mind is not a good idea, neither is it a good idea to go about our lives as though it has no end.  We don't know when our time on this planet will be up, death is a certainty...timing just needs to be determined.  It could be Dec. 21, 2012 - maybe more and maybe less.

How are you spending your remaining time?  Are you ready?

I believe I'd do more of what I'm doing right now.   I would ensure to spend as much time as I could with my family and look to increase that time (if I only had 10 days left, I'd probably stop going to work and spend that time with my family).  I would continue to write (not just this blog) as I think it's a great way to pass on knowledge, values, and memories to my girls.  It's a way of preserving my thoughts and contributing to a larger conversation.

There have been times when I've been discouraged with the output of my life, thinking that if I were to die in that moment, I'd have been disappointed with my accomplishments.  Not now, now I have purpose and I have goals and I'm doing my best to fulfill both.  I'm trending in the right direction.  I may not get to accomplish all that I'm setting out to do, but I'm working towards them and am making the journey along the way count.  That's good enough for me and really I think all we can do.  Who knows where the road will take us and how long it will take?  All I know is that our time is finite on the Earth, so make it count today.  

Beyond considerations of an unfulfilled calling, I've never been bothered by the thought of death and my own mortality because I'm confident in the promises of Jesus Christ and don't believe this is all there is.  As Paul once wrote to the church in Philippi, "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."




1 comment:

  1. great post Ryan.

    It is not for us to know the day or the hour - Matthew 24

    Let is live as if waiting for our glorious bridegroom - ready and eager, without fear and with much hope.

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