“Jonestown had nothing to do with us. We don’t talk about it.” Citizens of Guyana, South America, are embarrassed by a tragedy that occurred in their beautiful country in 1978. A rogue preacher from California, Jim Jones, convinced more than 900 people the world was about to end. He persuaded them to sell their homes in the United States and hide in his colony in the jungle of Guyana.
Jones assured them they would be safe in his communal refuge while waiting for the world to end. Once they settled in Jonestown, he dominated their thinking and their lives. When an American congressman and a group of investigators landed on a makeshift airstrip near Jonestown to inspect the site, Jones forced the people to commit ritual suicide. All but one person in the colony died by drinking Kool-Aid laced with arsenic.
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Last month my wife Jacqueline and I spent two weeks in Guyana where we attended the ordination of a new bishop. Hope, expectation and happy faces were everywhere, but nobody talked about Jonestown where 912 people died in one day.
I reflected how one person could dominate so many others with the notion that the world is coming to an end. Apparently the prophets of doom are at it again. They predict the world will end on December 12, 2012, a day when the 12s line up. A recently released movie follows this theme. The movie depicts huge disasters, including the western half of North America falling into the sea after a violent earthquake.
Les MacPherson, a columnist with the SASKATOON STAR PHOENIX, is amused. “Excuse me for not taking seriously the latest doomsday pronouncement, namely that the world is going to end on December 12, 2012. If I thought this was true, I’d go ahead and borrow the money for a fancy new car. The two things I want lots of when the world ends are consumer debt and speeding tickets.”
I agree with MacPherson that many people never think about end times. I have met people who believe they will win the lottery and live forever.
When the calendar turned from 1999 to 2000, many people believed the world would come to an end. Airplanes would fall out of the sky. Banks would lose track of our money. However, the world operated as usual on New Year’s Day 2000.
People have reflected on the end of the world for thousands of years. Personally, I have confidence in God and the human race. We make mistakes, we fight wars and we do not always care for the world as we should. Some problems are so enormous that even if we had all the time in the world, we would never solve them.
When will the world come to an end? Only God knows the answer. I prefer to ask the question: What do we do in the meantime? The decisions we make today have eternal consequences. Future generations will be affected by what we do. We can roll over in bed and let the world go by, or we can live with purpose and creativity.
Jesus talks about end times, but he tells his followers not to be alarmed. “Do not be terrified. Don’t fill up your time with anxiety and fear.” There is no more important day than today. It will never be repeated. We are to live every day as if it matters, because ever day, every moment, does matter.
Suggested Scripture: Matthew 10:26-31, Luke 21:25-36
Bishop Rod Andrews is with the Anglican Diocese in Saskatoon.
