Okaaaay. So somebody predicted the world will end TODAY. At precisely 6:00pm. (Standard time? Eastern? +8:00 GMT?)
In the meantime, I am going to be stuck at our store this afternoon and will be smirking at people panic-buying in case those that believe that thing will wander into the store. Come on... I have been through this before in two blog entries (re: earthquakes, etc., and the blog entry after that). Reminds me of Good Omens: the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. There was this one bit where the angel Aziraphale went astral surfing and managed to possess a daytime telly evangelist. As the preacher went on his explanation of the Rapture (where, according to him, all the believers will be whisked away to some place to be spared of the coming Tribulations), Aziraphale did the most expected thing of him, and told the truth (according to him he is morally obliged not to lie) about the book's version of the Rapture. Hysteria follows, more astral surfing... heck, read the book yourselves, and I promise it will be worth the time (of course, the humor is a bit British so the editors' footnotes come in handy).
So, Harold Camping predicted that today will be the day of Rapture, and not really the day of Judgement. There will still be a five-month span of terrible terrible things to happen (Think Book of Revelations) before the world finally ends. And, oh yeah, he previously predicted the world will end on September 1994.
And there's the deal with those posters and banners all over Manila. And there have been reports of people selling their stuff and even websites to assign who will take care of your pets in case you get whisked away to somewhere on Rapture day. So, you are sure you're one of the saved? Click on YES. Thank you for transacting with us, billing will be sent to your address (and follows a screen of your pet staring longingly into heaven while a ray of light shines on them). There are people who gave away all their riches and belongings, some who dug them a hole in the mountains, one guy who said he'll be in Time Square so he could get the best view when it happens, and some are celebrating their birthdays today. I browsed Wikipedia (it is still not synonymous for "research" by the way), and found a cool piece - a list of all predicted dates of Armageddon (Eddie Izzard: "that's Australian for Armageddonouttahere.") and it was quite a list.
So, how will the Rapture happen? There's talk of whisking away to heaven. How do you whisk someone away like that? Currently it is almost 4:00pm here and while typing, rain clouds suddenly gather and thunder peals from the darkened skies and i suddenl------
Nah, kinda bleak and frightening don't you think? Well, I still plan to go to our store in a few minutes after I post this entry. And I am pretty optimistic that this won't be my last. And just in case, Mom... Dad... I love you so much. Oh, and I won last night at poker session with my friends. I'll leave the money on Mom's desk in case some of us gets whisked away.
In the meantime, there is still a reason to hope. Despite the fright and sheer anxiety it causes, I still believe that whatever faith you profess to, whatever belief one has, there is still that one common thing that all of us believe in. The human spirit (no, not the soul... some don't believe in that). I mean the power that every man, woman, and child on the face of this green earth has to hope and cling to that hope. Whatever we may hope for - a new car, graduating, really really great parties, more time for family and friends, let's just hold on to that. Or else, I will post another entry giving a tribute to my dear old friend, and hopefully yours, Johnny Walker.
(re: the "Keep Walking" bit on my previous entry?)
Well, at least I had time to spend the last days of the world inside my mausoleum. Hmmm... Fascinating how one American Institution wants us to prepare for a Zombiepocalypse scenario. Good thing I brushed up with the rules in Zombieland.
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