Saturday, July 23, 2011

Thoughts on The Rapture

With the apocalypse only months away, an enterprising Christian has given the faithful peace of mind: After Rapture Pet Care services.  Those convinced they will be greeted by the loving face of God on October 21, 2011 can pay a pittance to ensure their pets are adopted and cared for by non-believers.

The After Rapture Pet Care website assures the faithful their beloved companion animals will not be shuttled off to a shelter or left to wither away alone in their homes, unloved, lonely and unfed.  Instead, they will be taken in to a volunteer's home to be treated as one of their own.

Both the Saved and the heathens are banking on a future clouded in doubt and ripe with promise.

For $10, the saintly Saved are caring in perpetuity for their beloved animals, a true concern for those who are in the running for being Chosen.

If I thought I was among the Saved, the only thing worse than leaving my cats behind would be not leaving my cats behind.  I'm not sure what would piss me off more: being wrong about what God expected of the Righteous or the wasted $10 I would need for the presumably short writhing in hellfire and damnation to which I will be subject in the aftermath of the Rapture.  I can't imagine the grief at discovering my life's goal of Righteousness was all wrong. What I can imagine is the pride of the self-appointed Saved, and how that doesn't fit with the humility of their Savior.

However, let's leave the Saved for a moment.  It's the After The Rapture Pet Care volunteers I want to recognize for their sacrifices.  They know they're not among the Saved, or at least they have their doubts.  Frankly, after listening to hymns calling humans — God's creations — "wretches," I can't imagine a single true believer identifying themselves as Saved.  They might try to be the best person they can be, and they'd be too busy doing the right thing to condemn another.  It's that kind of person who personifies the heart and soul of a generous, loving God: the person who would take a frightened, hungry animal into their heart and home.

Many of these volunteers may not identify themselves as Christians.  And yet, this generous nature is not recognized for its own worth, and it is perceived as not being valued by their Christian God because that volunteer might not have come to God through the Son.  I would hate to have an "omnipotent" deity with that limitation.  In Judaism, there is recognition that the truly righteous may not be among the Chosen, but God will love and accept them anyway.  That's my kind of God.

If the Rapture is about taking the righteous to the bosom of God, it would be deliciously ironic if the people who most deserve the love of God are the ones who think they'll be around to watch the sun set October 21.  Wouldn't there be a whole bunch of confused humans and pets if that happened.

Finally, one last question: in which category — Saved or Left Behind — would you put the enterprising person who has profited off this fear and pride with After The Rapture Pet Care?

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