Apocalyptic Thinking

I grew up with people in my church always talking about "The Change". This meant to them that the coasts would flood and everone not living on a mountain or at high altitude was going to be washed away in a flood. I listened to people talking like this growing up. I finally in my 20s came to the conclusion that they thought like this because they had been mistreated as children, psychologically, physically, sexually or all three. I find if I talk to apocalyptic people they have this one quality in common, childhood abuse(psychological, physical or sexual).

When I realized that every person I talked to who thought the end of the world was coming soon had been abused it started to make sense to me.

However, unless someone has had family members die in a disaster or watched their house or livelihood be destroyed I just don't see the usefulness of apocalyptic thinking. However, if someone was very poor or just had a really terrible life then maybe that would be the only thing they had to look forward to, death.

I have a different way of looking at all this. Since I not only was raised to believe in reincarnation but in addition to this I remember many or most of my recent lives past, present and future I see all this in a much different context than many people.

Whether you believe what I believe or not is irrelevant to me. It is just my experience of life and you are entitled to your own experience of life just like I am entitled to my own. And just like you I would fight and die to be able to have my own experience of life and have many many times in past lifetimes. I remember these deaths and how important it was at the time to defend whatever it was I believed and my friends and family at the time.

However, in addition to this I remember being Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu and animist when I died on many occasions to protect my family, friends and beliefs. It has always been like this. Always someone didn't want other people to believe or do what they did and killed them like animals in a slaughter. Most people don't want to be slaughtered so they fight back any way they can. It is just human nature.

So, to my present way of thinking, apocalyptic thinking I only find useful for those who have just lost relatives and friends in a catastrophe like in China or the Flooding in Iowa and Illinois etc. Other people who might be having really terrible lives might also want to believe in apocalypse just to have something to look forward to. Otherwise I generally see apocalyptic thinking as counterproductive to a good life.

The reason it is counterproductive to a good life is that one tends to just sit in their home and not do anything but wait for the end when one thinks this way. So it not only interferes with a better future for that person but it interferes with a better life for all their friends and relatives that could be helped to survive better in a multitude of ways. Just waiting for the end becomes only a self fulfilling prophesy and ends everyone's life sooner and makes everyone's life worse in the meantime.

I believe "God helps those who help themselves!" If you can't pick yourself up and move on and create a life you can stand to live in then "God Help You!"

Be the change you want to see. Be God manifesting on earth. Invent ways for people to survive and be happier. Help Earth become a heaven so everyone goes from Earth heaven to a real heaven. So the trip from Earth heaven to a real heaven won't be so far.

Let's stop all this apocalyptic stuff and make earth a heaven for all of us now!