But it\u2019s not just us.<\/p>\n
I got up yesterday morning and saw an article on the Patheos Evangelical channel titled \u201cJ. Richard Middleton Prepares Us for the End Times!\u201d Now, Evangelicals talking about \u201cend times\u201d is nothing new. But there\u2019s also this piece from Religion News Service called \u2018Is this when we disappear?\u2019 Rapture triggers haunt the Left Behind generation<\/a>. Everybody on the right seems so concerned for the welfare of children (cough<\/em> \u2013 bullshit \u2013 cough<\/em>), but sermons about \u201crapture\u201d and \u201ctribulation\u201d and \u201ceternal hellfire\u201d were traumatizing for me as a kid and nobody\u2019s talking about making them 18-plus only.<\/p>\n UU minister and Zen Buddhist<\/a> priest James Ishmael Ford has Some Zen Words for End Times<\/a>. This one is quite good and I encourage you to read it. It has some historical context for Christian apocalyptic prophesies and it has some very good advice, courtesy of Jan Seymour-Ford: \u201cRespect your tools. And everything you know is a working hypothesis.\u201d<\/p>\n I could go on, and on, and on\u2026<\/p>\n Maybe this is just a high point of random activity. Maybe it\u2019s always there and I just happen to be looking straight at it. Maybe it has something to do with today\u2019s solar eclipse<\/a> (one that very few people will be able to see).<\/p>\n Or maybe other people are sensing the same things we\u2019re sensing and they\u2019re interpreting it through their own religious traditions.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to pay attention to the wider trends and movements in our world and between the worlds. But it\u2019s even more important to frame them in the context of our Pagan and polytheist religions. For our own good we need to avoid getting caught up in the apocalyptic fever of a religion we walked away from (or for a few lucky souls, that you never belonged to in the first place) because it didn\u2019t ring true.<\/p>\n The tentacles of \u201cend times\u201d doctrines can linger in your subconscious long after your conscious mind has abandoned them and moved on. For those who have yet to fully exorcise them<\/a>, it\u2019s important to realize two things.<\/p>\n First, while the belief that Jesus will return to this world someday dates back to the earliest Christians, the idea of \u201crapture\u201d and \u201ctribulation\u201d only began in the 1830s<\/a>. Catholics and most Mainline Protestants reject it. The prophecies of Revelation are anything but clear, and a straightforward analysis points toward it being inspirational literature for those oppressed by the Roman Empire in the early years of the Christian movement.<\/p>\n More importantly, this is only one of many apocalyptic prophecies, a trend that began 3500 years ago in Zoroastrianism. Over those 3500 years, these prophecies have been wrong Every Single Time. They persist because of how they make people feel while they\u2019re contemplating them. Their believers feel good thinking that their enemies will be punished, and they feel great imagining how they\u2019ll be able to say they knew it was coming all along.<\/p>\n That they\u2019re always wrong doesn\u2019t matter. The payoff is in the fantasy.<\/p>\n There will be no \u201crapture\u201d and \u201ctribulation.\u201d But that doesn\u2019t mean things aren\u2019t going to get worse.<\/p>\n And it doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t tell which way the wind is blowing.<\/p>\n 19th<\/sup> century Unitarian minster Theodore Parker said \u201cthe arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.\u201d Unfortunately, it doesn\u2019t bend consistently, and we\u2019re in a period where powerful people are trying to bend in back in the direction of injustice<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tennessee. Missouri. Florida. Texas. An economic system that helps the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orb\u00e1n, and a host of wannabes in the United States.<\/p>\n Do I need to go on?<\/p>\n This is all real, and it\u2019s here, and it\u2019s now.<\/p>\n But while the \u201cGreat War\u201d that some of us are sensing has a political component, it is first and foremost a spiritual conflict.<\/p>\n On one side are those who promote life, freedom, and fulfillment for all, both human and other-than-human. On another side are those who crave power and control, who see strict hierarchy as the natural order of things \u2013 with themselves at the top of the hierarchy, of course. There are several factions of the Fair Folk, who want to take back what was theirs before the expansion of humanity drove them Underhill \u2013 and who want to make sure their side comes out on top. There are those Morgan Daimler calls Basd\u00e1n<\/a>, \u201cthose who seek to unmake all things.\u201d<\/p>\n What, you thought this was Team Red vs. Team Blue? Team Jesus vs. Team Richard Dawkins?<\/p>\n When is life ever that simple?<\/p>\n And this is all taking place while \u2013 or perhaps, because \u2013 the currents of magic are stronger<\/a> than they\u2019ve been in several millennia.<\/p>\n Whatever is going on, it\u2019s no longer just Pagans, polytheists, witches, and other magical people who are noticing it. People in other religions and other cultures are seeing the same things we are, they\u2019re just interpreting them and expressing them in the context of their own foundational assumptions and working beliefs. That\u2019s worth noticing, and it\u2019s worth monitoring going forward.<\/p>\n I repeat what I wrote last month: Living Well is Also the Best Battle Strategy<\/a>. Take care of you and yours. Be who and what you are, and what you\u2019re called to be. Cultivate joy where ever you can. Build your skills, both magical and mundane.<\/p>\n Be an engaged citizen without losing your soul to the 24\/7 news and outrage machine.<\/p>\n In addition to trying to live well (and thus keep my sanity), I\u2019m doing my best to pay attention to what\u2019s going on. Every story is another data point, and the more data points we can get, the better job we can do of understanding what\u2019s happening and how we can best respond.<\/p>\n How many sides are there and what are they all trying to do? Who are our friends? With whom do we have common cause? Who can we trust?<\/p>\n I\u2019m also trying to build my own skills. I\u2019m exploring off the map<\/a> again, to see what I can find, and to see what I can learn. I\u2019ll share my notes once I\u2019ve got enough to create a meaningful narrative. Don\u2019t look for them any time soon \u2013 this is a long term project.<\/p>\n![\"photo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2023\/04\/fire-02.11.17-02-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nApocalyptic prophecies are always wrong<\/h2>\n
The wind is blowing in an unfriendly direction<\/h2>\n
![\"photo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2023\/04\/fallen-tree-03.31.23-01-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMore than two sides<\/h2>\n
Pay attention, take good notes, and act<\/h2>\n
![\"photo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2023\/04\/shallow-water-04.17.23-01-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n