End of Ze World

Sorry, I kind of rushed this post. I wanted to make sure it was posted before the world ends!

So, after a slight scare that the world was going to end a few days ago (on 12/12/12)… Turns out it will actually end in a week (12/21/12)!! I was misinformed. Thank goodness because I still have so much left to do!

It is a pretty cliché question to ask, ‘what would you do if you knew the world was going to end tomorrow?’ but I think it is an important question! It is important because it tells us what we should truly be doing everyday of our life; accomplishing all of those things that we truly want to accomplish. Like the Tim McGraw song says, “Live like you were dying.”

It is important, but tricky.

The typical answer includes everything that we have always wanted to do and then some! It gets tricky because the way we would live, if the world were going to end, would include: go skydiving, rocky mountain climbing or to go 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Man Choo. I think the vast majority of us (myself included) would have a list that includes so many things that would bring worldly happiness to ourselves. But what does that say about us? What does that say about what is most important to us?

The media and the better portion of the corporate world encourage instant gratification and indulging in what you want right now (think about it, do you think McDonalds would have a marketing scheme based on self denial and sacrifice?). Yes, I would probably want to travel to Tahiti and eat a nice steak dinner. If that is what is at the top of my list when the world is ending, where will that land me after the world ends!? We always ask this question but seem to forget about AFTER the world ends bit. It is like reading the preface to a book, then ignoring the remainder.

What about loving deeper, speaking sweeter, and giving forgiveness that you are denying?! Where will that land us after?! I like the answer to this question a lot more than the answer to the above questions! J If you feel like you would have to go to confession one more time before the world ends, GO TODAY. If you feel like you would have to go to mass one more time before the world ends, GO TODAY!

Let us live everyday selflessly, let us live everyday with hope in eternal life, let us live everyday to be Christ’s light to others. Then we do not have to worry if the Mayans were right or not! Then the answer to the cliché question would be, “Well, I am going to do tomorrow, exactly what I did today.” Our number one goal in life should be to obtain eternal life for ourselves AND lead others to the same. If that is our goal in life, then the way we live if the world was going to end needs to reflect that. And if that is what we would do when the world is ending… that must be extremely important to us. Therefore we have to do that every day of our life. And then the answer to the question, again, can be nothing other than, “Well, I am going to do tomorrow, exactly what I did today!”

So yes! Live like you were dying, live like the Mayan’s were correct! But first pray about it. Let us break away from the idea of instant gratification and self indulgence and focus on what will lead us and others closer to life everlasting! And do that ever day, even on 12/20/12 (the day before the world ends)!