You want rapture? Try this on for size.

Rapture – to transport with excitement, carried away from one’s self by agreeable excitement; extreme joy or pleasure.

I did what most people will do when looking for a definition, an explanation or an understanding for something not quite known how it applies to current circumstances – I picked and chose from the varied descriptions offered the ones that suited my purpose.

Thus, today, May 21, 2011, the day of The Rapture, sounds like a good day, based on my chosen definition of the word. Give me a minute and I’m sure I could come up with an equally positive definition of “apocalypse” too. You see, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings a bit if today marked the day that the world as we know it comes to an end.


Forgive my transgressions as I choose not to cite the gazillion news sources that talk about today’s Rapture according to Harold Camping who chooses to mark today as the day that ends all gospel salvation activity by plucking 207 million people off the face of the Earth. That his particular cultish rantings are all over the place is more indicative of the large amount of money thrown at his advertising campaign than it is a gospel truth. It is unfortunate that this one man chose to promote such a destructive message instead of something more affirmative in nature, like “money is not power, compassion is.” Camping picks up where the Catholic Church leaves off in striking blows to Christianity’s credibility, and since it is relegated to this country, America’s credibility as well.

It’s perfect timing, wouldn’t you say? Thanks to the political segment of the world’s population, it’s a major mess out there. That major mess has thrown life as we know it into Hell on Earth. Only a few enjoy the fruits of the labor of many, which leaves many to search in desperation for relief. The door is wide open for a charismatic nutcase like Camping to get a foothold in a lot of people’s psyche. I guess we should be thankful that ol’ Charlie Manson wasn’t granted parole to freely flaunt his message.

I am not charismatic (that seems to only apply to the male gender for some reason), I don’t have a lot of followers of my humble little blog here (it’s never been a goal for me), I’m a bit eccentric but not extremist (unless we’re talking about child abuse or animal neglect), so I’m going to go ahead and blast out my own message for today, The Day of Rapture:

• The world as we know it ends not only every few years when somebody decides to declare Armageddon. The world as we know it ends not only every day. No. The world as we know it ends every single moment. We are linear thinkers, don’t you know, and that’s the way it is. Taken this way, it’s a positive thing filled with growth, opportunity, change and learning. It is a good thing.
  
  
• Gender, color of skin, age, beauty have no bearing on a person’s stature in nature. Biology has proven this since Day #1. Any biological difference between one mammal and another is rudimentary proof that we are all individual, yet equal. In fact, there is no visible way to determine the species of a fertilized egg cell for quite awhile into gestation. From conception, a deer, a dog, a cat, a human is indistinguishable in form.
  
  
• We are all individual. That survival necessitates social constructs does not negate individuality. In the end, survival is enhanced and strengthened when individuality is prioritized. A group is only as good as its weakest member. That each individual is unique ensures that any possible event, all the way down to the quantum level, can be survived.
  
  
• We can all read a sentence and all come up with a different interpretation and come away with a different meaning of what that sentence is saying. There is no way that this can be any other way. We have filters or lenses that help us avoid information overload (chaos) that develop from our inherent uniqueness. For this reason, beliefs can only be individual, whether that be a belief in God, a Higher Power, spirituality…or not.

You see, we all have The Answer, the rapture of today. It is within each one of us. It’s not something that someone else can dictate or divine for us. This isn’t a weakness or an unfulfilled need; it is our strength. And by becoming strong, by prioritizing our unique individuality, we enhance each other because, in the end, no ‘man’ is an island. We need each other, and we need each one to be everything potentially possible.

And this is where responsibility comes in. It is up to you to think this through and define for yourself your self-responsibility. That, my friend, is priority.

So, you want rapture? It’s right here, right now. All you have to do is try your own skin on for size. Are you you? Right there it is, all that joy and rapture, right there in you!