I Will Survive

 

Cue up the music.

Though Gloria Gaynor’s disco anthem, I Will Survive seems to tell the straightforward story of a women unwilling to put up with a cheating partner, it is more.  It is more than a simple story of surviving cheating, it carries the universal themes of strength, pride, independence, and overcoming self-doubt.  It has been embraced by many groups and individuals as a anthem of glaring hope . . . of survival.  It has become my theme song as I continue to journey through this circus call life.

 

Especially after the latest eclipse of the sun.  One esteemed politician from Georgia proclaimed it and recent earthquakes on the east coast to be a message from God . . . shape up or else.  An apocalyptic message in the congresswoman’s estimation.  And . . . I survived.

 

I survived another one.  Now I don’t want to brag, but since my birth in 1958 I have now survived approximately 76 end of the world predictions and 22 “second coming” scenarios.  I have taken some of the best hits from some of the best naysayers over the years: Hal Lindsay (The Late Great Planet Earth), Billy Graham (Approaching Hoofbeats: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse), Edgar Cayce (the “Sleeping Prophet”), Jim Jones (the Kool Aid” idiot), Pat Robertson (The End of the Age),  Charles Manson, Jerry Falwell (End Time Politics), Tim LaHaye (Left Behind), Jeane Dixon, and a whole slew of religious zealots over the generations and self-proclaimed prophets.  Throw in there the infamous Y2K into the mix. 

 

I have somehow missed out on the zombie invasions.  Missed out any form of nuclear annihilation.  Side stepped all the natural calamities and disasters.  Came through the pandemic in one piece.  Dodged all the asteroid showers and space junk falling to earth.  So far have avoided any super volcanic explosion of Yellowstone.  Still have Artificial Intelligence under control . . . no invasion of robots.  You name it and I have so far steered clear of being kaput. 

 

Oh, there have been moments when I had my doubt.  Take for example the Rapture.  As a pastor, before retiring, there had been times when I got to church and waited for the congregation to arrive.  There were Sundays when few showed up to worship and I began to worry . . . worry where everyone was at.  Worry that maybe I missed the signs that the “end” had come . . . that I got left behind.  But I survived.  Usually, their reason for the dismal attendance was something better was on the television.  Think about it . . . would you rather listen to me or some flashy, millionaire evangelist?  Either way . . . I survived.

 

But I have my moments, especially in the world climate that all of us are existing in right now . . . these are crazy times.  It is easy to slip into paranoia.  Easy to interpret what is going on as “signs of the end”.  Of course, the Bible tells us that there will be “signs” that the end is near before it is all said and done.  It also said that every generation will have such “signs”.  That is enough to hang a hat on and jump into the panic that the “end is near”.

 

For example, take our nation’s politics right now.  Have you ever seen or experienced a bigger circus?  As I stated earlier, we have a congresswoman from Georgia telling us that God is sending us messages through earthquakes and an eclipse of the sun.  She said we Americans need to listen . . . or else.  The “great orange one” has equated himself as Jesus.  Makes me wonder if he might be that anti-Christ I read all about in the Bible.  Signs, signs, everywhere signs.  Ya see . . . it is easy to slip into this convoluted thinking and see the “end” coming all around you.  I’ll admit it . . . I have been guilty of such thinking from time to time.

 

But . . . I have survived.  It ain’t bragging.  It’s a fact.

 

And so have you.

 

The sun came up this morning.  The birds were singing.  People went to work and school.  People went shopping.  They were enjoying one another.  Life continued to roll.  We are all here despite the anxiety we are all feeling.  We have survived.

 

This is not the Creator’s show set on a continuous loop.  No.  This is creation set in motion and it is our choice on how it plays out.  We can jump onto the craziness of the “end is coming” band wagon or we can choose to live our lives as we have been challenged to do . . . to love and bring the family together.  The choice is ours.

 

I appreciate Miss Gaynor’s words in her song, I Will Survive, especially the chorus:

 

No, not I, I will survive

Long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive

I've got my life to live

And all my love to give and

I will survive

I, I, I will survive

 

It’s my mantra . . . my theme song.  You see, I have survived (once again)!  So have you.  Yea, cue up the music . . . we have survived.  Go ahead, brag!

Random Thoughts

When I got to work this morning my office was in disarray--my chairs were missing--things were stacked up on file cabinets and bookcases--but, my desk chair was missing!!  Even with the custodian we had a difficult time finding it.  I was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, the chair was raptured and I got left behind.  Then the custodian reminded me that the carpets were cleaned over the weekend and that my desk chair had to be somewhere in the building.  Sure enough, it was.  After a ten minute look we found it in another room across from the office.  It had not been raptured . . . and like the rest of us it is still stuck here until the next rapture takes place.  To say the least, I was relieved--I still have a chance to make the next go-round.

I have never been much on the apocalyptic end time thing that seems to sweep across the world ever couple of years.  I think I have witnessed at least ten of these prophetic calls for rapture in my lifetime--and I'm still here and so are all of my friends and family.  Jesus told us--his followers--that no one knows the time or the place when the rapture would come.  Despite Jesus' own words there still seems to be this fascination with predicting the end time.  The guy who predicted it for this past Saturday, predicted the same thing back in 1994--it did not happen then.  He blamed it on his incorrect mathematical calculations.  This time he just doesn't know what he did wrong other than get a whole lot of people upset.  Jesus told us to watch out for those "false prophets".  Basically it means that we followers of Jesus need to make the most of every day because we never know . . .

Yesterday the wife and I went out moose hunting.  We did so because I was given a strong tip that there were a couple of moose in the area.  Two members of the congregation I served saw two on Saturday night--a young bull moose along the highway and a cow moose near a house not far from the highway.  It seemed like a good tip and since the wife has yet to see a moose since moving to Montana--well, it seemed like a good way to kill a couple of hours!  We saw no moose--nada--not a one.  The wife still believes that these are mythical, magical, mystical creatures that the locals like to talk about to get everyone excited to go out looking--sort of like an elaborate game of looking for Snipes.  All we saw was a Willet.  This bird has a beak like Jimmy Durante.  Despite its long beak it had a beautiful song.  This is what a Willet looks like:

Dora the Dachshund has found a new purpose in life . . . she is going to keep the squirrel out of the bird feeder in the backyard.  This past weekend she finally saw the squirrel doing its "in your face" number on the wife's bird feeder and the chase was on.  Dora gave chase, but the squirrel was too fast for her.  Dora has a good memory and she now stakes out one of two spots in the yard looking for the squirrel--under the bird feeder or in the corner where the squirrel feeder is.  The best that Dora has done so far is to make a lot of noise as the squirrel chatters away at her from a safe distance in the trees.  I don't think Dora would know what to do with a squirrel if she caught one, but right now she thinks that she is pretty big just barking at the squirrel.  What she hasn't figured out yet is that the squirrel is really two squirrels and they are playing mind games with her.  It is quite comical to watch them play their tricks on her.

 Dora looking for her "nemesis"--the Squirrel

The Squirrel

The Squirrel who doesn't care!

So there you have it--three completely random thoughts that have nothing to do with each other.  A desk chair that escaped the rapture and made me pause . . . a moose-less drive that produced a Willet . . . and a squirrel who enjoys antagonizing Dora.  Makes a person wonder what the rest of the world is thinking about on a Monday evening.  I hear there is some guy in southern California saying the world is going to end . . . as soon as the wife sees a moose and Dora the Dachshund catches a squirrel!