Signs

Last night Russell and I met with four senior high youth to talk about our upcoming Lutheran Youth Fellowship board meeting. As usual, we began our meeting with devotions. And, as usual, our conversations got sidetracked. Reading Psalm 27, some of us were struck by the last verse, "Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!"

We thought of Haitians waiting for help - and now the people of Chile - as a result of two very devastating earthquakes which happened within 46 days of the each other. What must waiting be like for them? What kind of courage is required of them?

This, however, boomeranged into a conversation of a different sort, launching into some rapid-fire statements about the end of the world - just look at what's happening in the world....The signs are there...earthquakes, tsunamis....And we've got the Mayan calendar to back it up...

...or not.

I wonder. Does every generation look to the future with despair and anxiety?

I know I did. When I was their age, Hal Lindsey predicted that the end of the world would occur in the 1980s in his book, "The Late, Great Planet Earth." There were some who believed that the world would end because of the tensions between the USSR and the USA and with the escalation of nuclear weapons. "The Day After" was a made-for-television movie that only raised the nation's anxieties about the end of the world. In 1985, a tidal wave killed 10,000 in Bangladesh. An earthquake killed 80,000 in Armenia in 1988.

Were these signs?

There have been doomsday prophets all through history. Take, for example, the Roman priest who, in the year 500, predicted the end of the earth based on the dimensions of Noah's ark. In the year 999, there was a lot of hysteria over the year 1000. People sold their goods to the poor. Many took a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It was nuts! In 1973, David Berg predicted with the arrival of the Comet Kohoutek in 1973, that the world would end in 1974. There were many who thought the year 2000 would bring about chaos and the end times (remember Y2K?) These are just a few....and there hundreds of similar predictions.

The world is scary enough as it is without end-of-the-world prognosticators. Thank you very much.

Doomsday predictions aside, each generation does have its challenges. I would be lying if I didn't say that I'm concerned for the future of this generation. Climate change is a concern. The tensions between Muslims, Christians, and Jews are a concern. The economy is a concern.

Then again, I remember adults telling me when I was a teen how they were concerned for the future of my generation. War. Violence and unrest in our streets. Pollution.

There will always be challenges facing each generation. The question is, how do we deal with them?

This takes me back to Psalm 27 - and another verse we were moved by (verse 8), "'Come,' my heart says, 'seek [God's] face!' Your face, Lord, do I seek."

I would say to this generation and every generation: Look to God, seek God, not to prognosticators of the world's demise. Then, with courage (back to verse 14) address the real issues and concerns of our time. And, no matter what, trust in God, remembering that no matter what happens, nothing can separate you from God's love. Good news, indeed!