Jesus is returning May 21, 2011

Jesus is returning May 21, 2011, according to Raleigh, N.C-based group “We Can Know.” According to its leaders, they have read the scriptures and checked them twice and, sure enough the return flight is scheduled for this coming spring (the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, unfortunately). That’s what the group is proclaiming on billboards across the United States, including two in the KC metro.

Ok, so it’s very easy to laugh at and ridicule groups like these. I mean, the only thing erroneously predicted more often than Jesus’ return is tomorrow’s weather (cloudy with a high of 34). It’s also tempting to shake heads at the thousands of dollars wasted on the billboards in major cities across the country proclaiming their insight.

Their folly, though, is just a humorous, well-advertised example of the folly that many of us commit regularly: spending our energy on anxiety, excitement, and hope for an anticipated future rather than living fully in the here and now. Running through our heads and our conversations are phrases such as, “I’ll be happy when…,” “I can’t wait until…,” “If only…” “What if…” and “Are we there yet?”

When our eyes are always looking forward and our hope is always in tomorrow, discontent robs our peace and anxiety clouds the beauty of the moment.

The danger doesn’t end with a life squandered, for there are other dangers lurking in this folly. An anxious, discontent, fearful people are easy to control and manipulate. Every great dictator, autocrat, and cult leader knows this and leverages it to great advantage. Where there are not obvious reasons for discontent and anxiety, such as the economic depression that Hitler used to his advantage, they can be manufactured: “a woman over age 40 has a better chance of being killed by a terrorist than of getting married!” (false, by the way)

So what about vision casting, goal setting, and dream building? These are useful in discovering one’s guiding intention for daily living, and in fact can help in determining what is important in life and what small things can be released. They become dangerous, though, when they remove focus from daily life, present companions, and joyful contentment.

Nourish your dreams and your visions, but live fully in the present without dwelling on the past or manufacturing anxiety over the future. It’s what Jesus would want- ask him yourself in May.