“It’s less than three months away!” Brian exclaimed. “I’m not ready.”
“Not ready for what?” Ben asked his roommate.
“The Rapture.”
“The what?”
“The Rapture,” Brian repeated. “Here, take a look at this full page ad that was in today’s paper.
Ben read it out load. “Get ready for the Rapture. April 23, 2019 AD.” He handed the ad back to Brian. “Isn’t that what you call ‘end times’ or something like that? Where all true believers who are alive will be saved and will rise, along with the resurrected dead believers, into heaven to join Jesus?”
“Close enough,” Brian said. “And it’s happening in less than three months. I’m not ready, Ben.”
“Well, you know that I don’t believe in all that religious mumbo jumbo, Brian,” Ben said. “But you’re a believer, so what are you worried about? I’m sure you’ll float up to heaven with all of the other good boys and girls for fun and games with Jesus for the rest of eternity.”
“It just doesn’t add up, Ben,” Brian said. “Anna and I are supposed to get married on May 5th. But that will be too late.”
“Why will it be too late?” Ben asked. “Anna’s a good Christian, right? Maybe you and she can float up to heaven together, hand-in-hand, and get married once you’ve settled in. Hell, maybe Jesus, himself, will officiate at your wedding.”
“It’s not funny, Ben,” Brian whined. “I’m not ready for this. Why didn’t God give me some sort of sign so I could have planned for this?”
Ben pulled the newspaper ad from Brian’s hand and held it up. “Isn’t this a sign?”
“I don’t mean a physical sign,” Brian said. “A spiritual sign.”
“I don’t know, Brian,” Ben said, “but haven’t you been telling me ever since we met each other how God works in mysterious ways?”
This little sacrilegious tale, one that I hope doesn’t offend anyone, was written for Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. We are asked to use “ad/add/AD” (Anno Domini) in our post. We can use one, two, or all three.
This, That, and the Other 
Clever, I enjoyed the twist to the prompts you took, nice job!
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Good one ☝️
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No offence fom this side. I remember my parents ‘neighbour not wanting to decorate or get their wiring fixed etc because the world was due to be reset and she was getting ready for better times. She lived to be 104 and the house was in the same state as it was in 1943.
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Yikes.
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I don’t think you should be afraid of offending anyone. Religion and religious beliefs should not be held in awe. Personally while finding much of good in some of the underlying source material, I find much to deride and abhor in the crankier religious nutcases.
And the rapture is a great example of embarrassing, self righteous superstitious nonsence.
Nowhere is freedom of speech more important than in combating religious extremism. And a bunch of christian extremists who believe that they are an elite and will be whisked out to escape the fiery end of the world deserve all the derision they get.
What about the poor old Buddhists? Are they all damned? And the Jews, Muslims, zorastrians etc.
Makes me happy to be an atheist. Chortle.
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I am an affable atheist and there are religious bloggers who follow my blog and I, likewise, follow some of their blogs…at least if those who are not overly or fanatically religious. Thus, the caveat. But I agree that this whole Rapture thing is really far out.
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Read this: https://zenothestoic.com/2019/01/25/more-from-the-christian-cultist/
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I glanced around over there a bit; do you know why he has so many writings/post topics on magic mushrooms (and an Alfred)?
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No clue.
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Because I have suffered from debilitating depression since childhood and am hoping psilicybin might prove to be a cure. There has been a great deal of research recently on the topic in hospitals in the US and the UK. The disease has defined my life although I have managed to make a success of it financially and intellectually. Oxford University, the law and investment banking. Nonetheless it has never been easy!
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I hope it helps you. I saw the term micro-dosing.
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Indeed and thank you. At present I am inclined to feel that psilocybin may be helping to reboot my brain and to turn me from pessimism towards optimism and hope. I have been taking sub perceptual doses for nearly three months and these things take time. If it works I will sing its praises from the rooftops. As you will probably have gathered from my website I am no junkie!
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I’ve been enjoying your website.
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Ah; I see. Is he against all drugs? (I’m going to assume not, actually, as I don’t take him to be Mormon and I’d bet he’s okay with people drinking coffee.) We clearly have to be careful about any drug and more so with some (while this care hasn’t happened in the over-prescribing of opioids and our current epidemic), but if we accept the legitimacy of pharmaceuticals…
And, beyond that, when I hear about the various ways states are looking at legalizing marijuana (or have done), I think it’s important that there be included the decriminalization of owning/growing plants on a personal level. Maybe that ought to be within reason, like not a half-acre growing in your front yard in town (and I don’t known how much generally), but…
I heard a story of a veteran who was on a pain or ptsd medication and was having a problem with his liver (which I wish I could remember more details about). His caregiver(s) kept assuming he was drinking and should be more disciplined. His girlfriend figured out it was the Tylenol mixed to dilute the opiate, and she dumped his drugs in the toilet.
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Okay… sorry… I’ve caught on now. But you get my drift.
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Everyone (including the veteran) was happy with what the girlfriend had done, as the prescribers reflexively blamed the patient and didn’t question their own behavior.
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I think we deserve the right to make our own decisions in life and to be honest I feel that all drugs should be decriminalised. It would cut crime and at least ensure that those misguided individuals who abuse recreational drugs are taking pure substances and not rat poison! But perhaps more to the point I firmly believe that all substance abuse us self medication and much of it to ameliorate the awfulness of the human condition. The problem therefor needs to be tackled on a far deeper level. The creation of happiness by providing fulfilling employment, improving happiness and eradicating poverty. A better world for all.
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My 2cents worth; Although I am a believer, I do not take the rapture that Protestants are waiting for serious, if one would check the origin you would see why.
There is a funny tidbit that goes like this and I believe it is truer than we think. It is said, the rapture already happened but there were so few Christians in the world that no one noticed they were missing.
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