While shopping the other day, the clerk
and I were making small talk as the card reader was slowly processing the
transaction. When asked if she had finished her Christmas shopping, she
replied, "No I'm waiting until after the 21st this year. No sense in spending a
lot of money if the world is coming to an end." Of course, she was speaking of
the ancient Mayan calendar prophecy that some have interpreted as an apocalyptic
event. I suppose it's understandable that one would be cautious about spending
for gifts to be presented after the world comes to an end...seems
like a total waste of good money. The clerk smiled after she said those words,
betraying a cynicism that communicated that she was more of a procrastinator
than a true believer in Mayan prophecy.
Every generation has its doomsday prophets. For some reason, the last few
years have been full of these "end of days" forecasts. Some have sold
everything they own to proclaim the news. Some have made pilgrimages to certain
"holy" sites to greet the apocalypse, while others have seen these warnings as
opportunities for partying and revelry. In a world where it seems that the
challenges of every day are enough to deal with, the distractions of global
destruction, based on questionable prophetic sources, seem to command an
inordinate amount of our time and energy. For some of us, it's difficult enough
just to get to the mall, find a parking place, and then the perfect gift for
Christmas, much less worry about the end of the world!!! What's a person to
do???
OK, my cynicism got the best of me there. To a world of uncertainty, war,
extreme poverty and civil unrest, a baby was born nearly 2000 years ago. Of
course, many babies were born, but this one came as a unique gift. You see,
this baby was the Son of God. His birth was common in nature in that he was
born in a stable and placed in a manger...no room at the finer places for his
parents to dwell. His birth was uncommon, however, in that the announcement of
his birth was made by an angelic choir to lowly shepherds tending their flocks.
His birth did not signal the end, but the beginning of hope, for the Creator of
the universe had come to live and dwell among his creation. This birth did not
hail the end of all things, but the glorious rebirth of the human soul through
faith in the living Christ...the Word made flesh. Mayan predictions and
nonexistent parking possibilities at the mall aside, that is the wonderful news
for our world on this December 21, 2012. With headlines bearing the news of
fiscal cliff impasses, funerals in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings,
and all that accompanies a world that often seems bent on some kind of
apocalyptic expression, there is good news, "for to you, in the city of
David, is born a Savior, Christ the Lord." Remember that good news when
you read the headlines, consider ancient tribal prophecies, or search for that
elusive parking place before Christmas.
Jim Abernathy
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