Five Life Lessons From the Rapture Fail
Many of us can recall where we were 6:00pm Eastern May 21st. According to thousands of billboards and bus benches, that was the time when all the righteous believers would be exalted while the rest of us sinners stayed behind to experience earthquakes and other natural phenomenon as an awakening.
By now you’ve probably heard of the believer who spent his life savings of $140,000 to spread the word, or about the followers who packed their cars to take one last road trip across the country to experience the rapture with their fellow believers.
I don’t know how it happened, but we made it. If there is one lesson we hear all the time about self development it’s to learn from our failures. I can’t think of any more topical failure than last weekend’s rapture prediction, so let’s see what we can learn.
1. Fear is a Powerful Motivator
Just the possibility of a rapture was enough for many people to take off work, do some death bed repenting, or make life changes they had been putting off. However, is fear the smartest way to motivate people? As quickly as someone can overcome that fear, the same can be said to any motivation you had with them. The Sunday congregation at Camping’s chapel is a testimony to that.
2. Don’t Say Something You’ll Regret
For some the rapture gave people the courage to tell their bosses, family, and acquaintances how they really felt. One morning radio show played back the voice mail messages of one of their staff. He had called to curse out his boss and quit his job at 3pm Eastern. Needless to say, at 7pm Eastern he was back leaving a voice mail apologizing and explaining he was just kidding.
3. Live Everyday as if it Were Your Last and Someday You’d be Right
One of the biggest counter arguments for the rapture prediction came from Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”
Not having a day you can prepare to be “good enough” by might be harder, but living every day as if it were your last can be a successful way of living.
4. Finish What You’ve Started
The pending rapture might have given us an excuse to finish some of those projects, trips, or plans we have been ignoring. It was fun to talk with my family and friends Saturday. One such acquaintance had come back from a camping trip, another was helping their old father with yard work, another was enjoying time in cooler weather.
Each when talking about what they did, half jokingly added, “well you know the rapture is coming so I thought I’d… get one last trip in… service done…camp out finished.”
5. Even Dark Times Can Have Rays of Humor
The rapture may have been a serious subject for a targeted minority, but for the rest of us, it was a moment to look at the lighter side of life.
One Craigslist ad captured the feeling quite well,
May 21, 2011 the RAPTURE!” It says, “For all of you planning on being raptured, i am offering my services to you! I’d like to take any and all donations from you before May 21st as you will not be needing these in the afterlife. Donations can include but are not limited to, Blu-Rays, DVD’s, cash, cars, houses, electronics, ETC. I’m pretty sure just you and your body will be raptured, so i promise to take great care of your earthly possessions in your absence. I can guarantee i will not be raptured so please do not worry about donating to a fellow rapturee as this will not be the case!
When the end of the world is upon us, sometimes humor is the best medicine for giving us the strength to move forward.
What Did You Learn?
These are just a few of my observations. What lessons did you learn from this typically once in a life time event?
image courtesy of gsloan
I believe he spent $150 million life savings, not 150 thousand.
Reg Scheepers recently posted..Minor Attributes of Confident People – Part 2
Wow, that would make the point that much more meaningful. Thanks for the catch.