End Of The World

To my son Tommy,

This year is filled with doomsday prophecies.  Some Mayan guy was making a calendar and got a hand cramp and ended his calendar on 12-21-2012.  So people have attributed this date to the end of the world.  Every incident, big or small, from super storms to the closing of twinkie factories, have been pointed to as proof that the world is coming to an end.  Meh, I guess it is possible.  I was sure the end was nigh when the Fat Boys broke up.

Right or wrong, it doesn't matter.  Predicting the end of the world is a useless frivolity.  This catastrophic end that everyone suggests, is it something you can stop?  The Bible reminds us that no one is going to know when the end is coming.  It warns us not to follow these doomsday preachers.  It tells us to live in the present and prepare and work on who you are at this moment.  The future will then take care of itself whether the world ends today or in centuries.  That is actually very zen of the Catholic religion to point out that you should be living in the here and now.  Worrying about the end times is living in the future and will just make you anxious.  Live in the present and work on who you are now.  It is funny that as I get older, I am finding sound advice in my religion.  I am all for any message that says "Don't listen to the quacks!"

If the lights do go out on the 21st,  know that we will be together as a family...just like we will be on the 20th and the 22nd and the 19th and the 23rd etc etc.  We will continue on, living in the present and working on ourselves and our family and cherishing our love and company.   Every moment of our life, the world as we know it ends and begins anew.  Bring what is good and right from your past with you and leave everything else behind.  Don't worry yourself with when the merry-go-round is going to stop, just enjoy the ride you are on now.

Sincerely with love from your dad,
Leo